When the Fish Fly
by Takahiro Fuwaka
Summary: Your Aura, Your Colour, Your Intent. It's hilarious that you try and deny what grows deep within you every second. You can't remove the answer. It's daft to believe that I am indeed the decider, the conductor. I decide. Your fate - all of your fates are mine to bend and mould. Now, live! AU!Izuku.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter one - **_His Solitude_

"Hey, are you sure this is the kid? I mean, he's a _kid_, a literal baby. Surely there's someone else!"

"Take it or leave it, sir. Do you doubt my expertise?"

The man frowned and walked back to where he had arrived from, frustrated.

"I'm leavin' it."

As the cold air clung to the walking man's thick, rough skin, the strange doctor stole a glance once more before turning back to look at dream-ridden child that lay bare on the ground. The doctor raised his clothed hands and stroked the child's white matted hair, causing a small twitch to arise within him. Time had not yet gifted him lines of age or silver silk to sprout from his scalp, though his blank mop ceased nonetheless.

"_And if I were to awake him right now, this strange boy…" _the doctor thought, slouched on the slippery, damp ground. The wind picked up again slowly and sent a chill to the tree beside him whilst sending the birds aflight to be caught up in the troubles of the skies. Up there, things were simpler and supposedly better. That's why the birds liked it up there. A green, lush leaf fell upon the doctor's clothed hand. Plainly, he lifted it up by the stem before removing his glove.

When the glove had been stripped from his finger, the leaf hardened to dull stone with little to no texture and depth. It's life had been snatched. The once intricate and elaborate patterns that once intimately embraced and veined the leaf so, had been banished. The friction had been lost. That warm compassionate had gone and it wasn't coming back. Unfixable and miraculous. He let go of this leaf and when it shattered on the ground, it could barely be seen. It had been forgotten.

The doctors dryly hummed in wonder and thought.

"It was alive, then it was not." he said to himself, looking at the child as if he were conversing with someone of great importance. "Who is it, I ask, that wields such judgement that they are able to choose who and what and how and when and why something stops being gifted with life? Who decided this? I ask."

"That person is the real villain, I say."

The child lay bare and still like a corpse, for his chest did not rise and his eyes fluttered not. But eternal rest had not yet consumed him. Not yet. The doctor looked down at his own lower-body and saw that his white cloak had gotten soaked in mud by the sleeves and the rear end. In one swift move, the cloak had been removed from his shoulders and was now on top of the bare, still boy.

The doctor stood up, dusted himself and walked on ahead quietly.

"Strange boy, answer me."

* * *

"I've answered it - look."

A slim lady with shoulder-length locks of green hair enthusiastically bent down to the white-haired boy's level to pick the book from his palms. Looking at the answer he had produced, she beamed at the page and then with sparkling eyes, planted a kiss on his cheek.

"Is it right?" the boy asked impatiently twirling his thumbs. The woman sat down on the brown chair beside her, setting the book on her lap.

"I don't know, Izuku. Is it right?"

Izuku's face contorted into one of confusion and disappointment.

"You can't answer a question with a question..!" he declared. "And what's more, what do you mean? Why give me a question that can't be answered? All questions can be answered. There will always be a right or wrong."

She shook her head and leaned in, wrinkling her yellow apron.

"The question said: _'If Abel stole the apple for his family because the king no longer permitted his father to work in the city so they have little food, should he be punished?'."_

"Yes, mother. I remember the question." Izuku's cloud bobbed as he nodded. "And I said yes. Stealing is bad, that's what the teachers tell me alllll the time. So it's right."

"It is not right, Izuku." this earned her a tilted head. "But it is not wrong. It goes either way, don't you think? Abel wants to provide for his family - this is good, but it is bad to steal, everyone knows that. Not everything is so easy and cleanly cut that things can be decided this easily. In some places, people get their limbs cut off for theft, Izuku. That's bad isn't it?"

"Uh..then what's the answer.." he asked finally.

"There is no answer." she smiled and tucked a small piece of hair behind her ear. "Answers aren't always necessary because an answer doesn't benefit you. The answer you get isn't really an answer, when you think about it. It's just a reply from that person alone. But..Izuku, who has the power to decide what's good and bad? Who gets to choose the answer, who decides this, Izuku?"

Baffled and silenced in confusion, Izuku could not fumble up an appropriate answer, or an answer in general. His mother saw this and chuckled softly.

"I...don't know the answer anymore. Am I stupid, mom?"

"My, no! Far from it, Izuku. You're smart and caring and you love your mother, don't you? In fact," she stood erect and put on a hard face before smiling goofily. "You get to go to the mall!"

Izuku's eyes lit up and his pupils danced in the ray of light that shone on the left side of his face. The mall! The mall! Izuku speedily put on his shoes and ran to the door awaiting his mother.

"You're happy aren't you, Izuku?"

"Yes! I am super happy."

Izuku's mother unlocked the door, letting Izuku step out first.

"Then, so am I."

Equilibrium.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter two - **_Blind __Cherubim_

Without, the sky was still white with tints of blue and grey on the outskirts. It was not yet green with envy, at least not whilst the moon judged above the doctor and his…

On foot, the doctor travelled towards wherever he was told to go. He followed not the orders of a vulnerable human, but of his mind. Perhaps a wise being had possessed his own body and so directed him on where to tread, for he the doctor himself hadn't the foggiest of where he was being escorted.

But it was still him, and he still had his own will.

"My, where am I off to this time _O Wise One._" he said as he walked and surveyed the area. He then came to a blunt realisation before inclining his head with a soft grin. "Here? So be it. His coming of age was meant to be a little later but it can't be helped. I have such an urge!"

The doctor stared from a nearby house and looked through the slightly-dirtied glass.

"Yes, it is here indeed."

* * *

Izuku merrily skipped ahead through the mall, without a care in the world. Not an ear of his could hear the plea his mother shouted to him to keep close to her, but she knew already that he'd be fine regardless. What, with such a busy crowd to fill every corner of the shops and guard the ends and beginnings, it would seem really quite unnecessary to worry.

"_I wonder what toy I should get! Oh - or what sweets I should eat, ah it's been so long since I've had a candied apple…" _he reminisced with the corners of his lips upturned like the sun. _"Well, that isn't important, is it? Because I can get that all today because I have been so good!"_

He felt so jovial - so free. His mop of white hair bobbed and waved around as Izuku's eyes sparkled at the shop's tempting window. But, if he felt so happy and so free…

Why were his brows furrowed as much as they were?

"I..Izuku! You really shouldn't run like...that..!" panted his mother. "I couldn't see you and I must always see you, okay..? Gosh.."

"Okay, mom." he replied with wide impatient eyes. When his mother got her breath back and was stable enough to walk again, Izuku advanced a step to the middle of the mall for a better look of where to go and what to choose. However, at that second, another person was advancing. Someone who held a thick layer of monstrosity and danger. He cried an ear-splitting cry, causing the echoes of a baby's cry to amplify. Suddenly, this monster revealed himself - a villain.

Izuku's mother, like any other mother at the time, immediately took the initiative to cover and protect their children. Though whether she was quick enough to do so was the question.

"_Huh."_ Izuku's mind silently screamed. _"Huh. My ey-"_

Izuku's mouth opened tenfold the size it would when he yawned and he screamed. He shrieked, he shouted, he boomed; he screeched like a banshee. He howled and howled as he rubbed his eyes vigorously, causing them to appear rubicund.

"MOM IT HURTS!" he screamed with tears streaming down his face. All the people looked in horror as Izuku revealed his eyes to be… gone.

"Baby...My baby...Why - Why now!" his mother cried and wept and hugged him tightly. She then whispered, "Why ever…"

No no, Izuku's eyes had not been plucked from their sockets like a farmer would pick its freshest vegetation. His green, sparkling eyes had been taken from him. They used to be _his_ eyes, plain and simply his. But now? Not so much. A dull white color, were his pupils and sclera. As milky as the white strands that sprung from his scalp, he blinked several times, trying to escape the nightmare like scene that had taken over his vision.

"Shut UP, kid! So fucking annoying!" growled the green villain shooting more acid. Ah. The villain appeared to have an acid quirk. Oh, and the acid squirted from his palms as well. My, my how basic! A basic ending for a basic boy. How fitting.

"Izuku...no... y-you..Izuku please..live..Look at me!" choked up his mother breathlessly through her sobbing. She stared deeply into Izuku's confused, dancing eyes. He desperately looked for the voice of his mother. Bystanders were praying and hoping and wishing. It wouldn't do any good in such a situation.

Izuku was not going to die - well, the old Izuku would anyway. This new vision, yes! A vision it was! A new perception on life itself unbeknownst to him was never going to leave him.

"Mom..?" he said. His pain had left him now. But a new pain had been birthed on the left side of his chest. "Where are you?"

Fright. Fright painted on each and every one of their faces as they ran out of the building. Terrified to have their own loved ones have their vision stolen from them as Izuku's had done, and rightfully so. But what had been done to him could not be done to anyone else. This was the truth, this was the truth indeed.

"Stolen? Nay, your vision has not been stolen, lost voice." said the doctor looking at the sparkling green moon. "Your vision has if anything been gifted."

He covered the moon with his hand, but it's glowing, soft illumination could still be seen lightly staining the sky and the outlines of his fingers.

"Now, you can truly see."

You can hear crystal clear, can't you?


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter three - **_An Over Generous Hooligan_

After the hope of a remedy to cure his 'blindness' had been lost, Izuku had calmly and quickly come to terms with his new outlook on life - as did his mother. It was during the ride back home from the doctor's harsh words of _'your son's vision will like that till death do them part'_ that Izuku and his mother were silent in the car. While they seldom spoke or shared laughter in the car regardless, this new air of awkwardness and disappointment lay heavy. Izuku's mind was blank and his eyes were white. His mother's hand shook continuously as she gripped tightly to the steering wheel. What was she feeling? Guilt? Sadness? Grief? Helplessness? She was so unreadable at this point, her face was so unreadable, that the hands that clenched the steering wheel became a painting of a thousand words, for they expressed much more emotion than they could bare.

Izuku sat there. Motionless.

"_My fault? Is this my fault?"_ he thought with his pale hair covering his eyes in shame.

When they both left the car, his mother stood in silence briefly. The few seconds felt like a window for her to really take in all she had heard from the doctor and all she had seen at the mall. She inhaled and as she did this, her nose flared as though the river in her eyes were about to give out. But she was strong, so they didn't give out. She looked to Izuku with a plastic smile and opened the door. After ensuring the car was locked and that her dubious, expressionless son was inside the house, she went upstairs to put him to sleep.

"Sweet dreams, my love." she said thinking that Izuku was asleep before leaving the room quietly. Once Izuku heard his mother's footsteps confirm that she was in her room, he heard a thud. A thud that caused a new circuit of electricity to jump in his heart. He then heard the painful, glum and sorrowful wails of his mother through those thick walls. Though the walls were thick, they might as well be thin because he could hear every single version of grief in her loving voice. The voice that sang so, the voice that laughed so, the voice hummed so. She cried so much and so roughly that it sounded like she was being dragged through a pit of needles and knives and spikes and hurt and everything bad in the world.

She may as well be, though.

"_What good are thick walls when I have to hear mom cry like this?"_ he thought with grit teeth and more anguish building up in his heart. _"I'm pathetic. I'm so so horrid. To make mom cry like this…I might as well be a villain.."_

Hearing her cries stuck a chord within Izuku's heart and he knew exactly why she cried with such woe. It was all because of him not being able to see properly. Everything looked so weird now, and she was probably crying because of how much of a burden he would become. Izuku's grip on the sheets tightened as he made an oath with himself to never make his mother cry again, to never make her worry again, to never be a burden, for _him_ to never cry again.

He has to become a hero.

* * *

As his toddler years faded and his adolescence had shed, he -a boy of fourteen- now became accustomed to the daily sight of coloured silhouettes. Nine-years-or-so prior, when he had been tormented or 'gifted' with his new eye sight, he didn't become blind. Not in the way that society had set blind to be anyway. He could still see, but only their true beings. Their true nature - the nature that they might'nt even know of yet. He saw it all but only their silhouettes. In fact, that's how he viewed everything - in their silhouettes without a great deal of detail at that. He saw villains to be red, heroes to be green, the quirkless to be grey and the normal, ordinarily employed civilians to be blue. The inferior villains and small criminals were seen as a lighter red than the deadlier, more dangerous villains, who stood out as a deeper darker red. Likewise, the stronger or more benevolent the hero, the brighter the green became. The quirkless and the ordinary stayed at their same shades, getting no brighter and no darker and definitely not changing colour.

What did this mean, say, if a villain changed their ways by turning over a new leaf to become a hero? Or on the flip-side, a hero descending into the dark abyss of villainy? Well, it was simple. It didn't happen - their colours stay the same as they have since birth. This is due to what Izuku calls the 'Original Sin'. This string of fate called the Original Sin was used to label villains and heroes alike as there could not possibly such an abysmal situation where a frivolous human could ever ever judge who is a sinner and who is good. Everyone has sinned and it was a string of fate that could not be changed once born, hence 'Original Sin'. If the baby, who was born red - a villain, decided to become a hero, the baby could indeed 'become a hero'. That said, it's more 'playing the role of the Hero' as they would forever be red and somewhere down the line of their ventures in heroism, they would always _always_ descend back to their origins.

This was absolute.

"Mom, I'm off. Love you." said Izuku with a soft smile as he left home to go to school.

His mother frantically looked up with soapy hands and waved to her son with a great grin.

"I love you, have a nice day."

Down this familiar street in which he trekked, Izuku walked with his hands in pockets and hummed a little tune. He didn't ever bump into any of his classmates or his tormentors on the way to school for whatever reason; not that he was complaining - he didn't particularly like them but nor did he hate them. It took effort to hate someone, effort and energy; something Izuku thought highly of. As kids, he saw one certain bully often and when he did, he'd always afflict Izuku. Because of his white hair? No 'quirk'? His carefree dopey attitude? Izuku never knew why he was always picked on, but he never did anything to stop it. There was never any crying when he was kicked about by _him_, or when _he_ teased him, there was no defiance.

But for what? Why?

"I don't know." mumbled Izuku. Once he had approached the gates of his Middle School, he saw _him_ and his cluster of lackeys.

"Bakugou! Over here, haha!" called out one of Bakugou's underlings, who had blue skin. Izuku then heard an explosion come from the direction of Bakugou and then loud, unnecessary shouting. Izuku shook his head and sighed as he just ignored them and walked passed the group.

The group of servants blinked in disbelief as they saw Izuku mindlessly walk in front of Bakugou without hesitation. Not even they had the audacity to do that, for they stood behind him and knew of the consequences that would follow if they did anything to suggest an upheaval.

Bakugou's eyes flared up in a veiny mess at the sight of Izuku walking in front of him without a second thought.

"You piece of shit!" rawed Bakugou as he aimed his fist at Izuku's jaw before blasted him to the ground with a disgusted look on his face. All the other students who witnessed this either kept their heads down or ignored the assault because they all knew that Bakugou would of course become a hero in the not-so-far future because of the quirk he bore. And who in their right mind would lose the chance to be on Bakugou's good side? But other than that...but without that...Bakugou would be seen as a bully with a prideful personality. Had it not been for his quirk, he'd be nothing. And it was this that seriously baffled Izuku about his fellow humans. Men can not live by bread alone.

Without shedding a single tear and his nonchalant smiling face still on show, Izuku waited for most of them to disperse before getting up and walking as he had been before the incident. Nothing has changed since back then, huh?

Once class was in session, the teacher told them to discuss amongst themselves of their future plans once they had enrolled into high school before talking with the rest of the class. Izuku sat in his seat, daydreaming, for he already knew about what he would be doing once he left middle school, so he felt no need to participate in the discussions. Of course, Bakugou had other plans and decided it was a good idea to disrupt Izuku's peace. Perhaps out of boredom, who knows.

"Hey...Deku." blurted Bakugou loudly with a sadistic smile on his face, in opposed to Izuku's easygoing and apathetic smile. Bakugou waved his hand in Izuku's face at an uncomfortably close distance.

"_Go on give me a reaction, you cocky bastard."_ Bakugou thought.

"How many fingers am I holding up? I'll give you a hint: between one and ten, it's the equivalent of your chances of ever being anything other than someone's little bitch!"

Snickers that soon developed into full blown fit of laughter were heard from all over the classroom. People held onto their sides in pain while others were in need of tissues trying to wipe their tears.

"Dude - you just flicked Deku off!" shrieked a student across the room as he laughed.

"Haha, I guess that - oh my god! - I guess that means Midoriya has only a 1% of being anything other than a little bitch!" cried a tall girl with fiery hair who hit the table in an uncontrollable howl.

"B-Bakugou! That was unnecessary…" the fat teacher said in a low tone, stifling his own overflowing impulse to laugh. Bakugou, seeing that everyone in the classroom laughed with him and favoured him even more than before, had his ego boosted even further than usual. A sky-high egomaniac with a composed blasé often resulted in catastrophe.

In the midst of the fun, Izuku sat there and simply looked at Bakugou deeply. He stared right at Bakugou, as if he could see _everything_. As if he could see Bakugou's soul and secrets and everything he'd rather not show the world. Everything that would demolish his pride. Everything that would kill him. It was as Izuku stared and glared and gazed so intensely at Bakugou without blinking, that people's laughter died down and more horrified faces were dotted around instead. Bakugou's face of honor soon became irritated and anxious; though he dare not waver in front of anybody.

"Such a shade of green..." Izuku said, irregardless of all the people that saw and heard him. As if hypnotised, Bakugou was shaken from the momentary doze Izuku had put him in when Izuku tilted his head and his eyes narrowed because of the smile that danced on his face peacefully.

"You don't even deserve it."

There has never been any boy, _any_ that could bear the amount of pure rage that steamed through Bakugou's body, for it would just cook him alive or burn away his sanity. A girl with snakes as hair covered her mouth in worry while a short boy with a dolphin head nodded in agreement to the inevitable violence that would take place in a matter of seconds.

"I'll kill you." Bakugou bluntly said in a dull tone as he prepared one of his largest explosion yet. It was all so fast. Izuku was astonished by how the green of his bully flourished so, and how the pain in his torso didn't seem to fade even after minutes had gone by, and how the teacher gasped and how Bakugou looked just about satisfied and how the blues and greens and reds of the class just… watched.

The last feeling, the savoured moment and pain. He couldn't cry. He wouldn't, it was an oath, right? Heroes can't break oaths or they're just as bad as villains. Exactly! And so, Izuku withstood with the excruciating pain with a few grunts and coughs.

"Ah, blood.." Izuku said as he looked at what he had coughed up on his hand. He wiped his bloodied hand onto the cuff of his shirt and got up from the floor, resuming his position on the chair. His peers looked at Izuku in such incredulity because of the way he calmly got up from the floor he had been thrown into a few minutes prior.

"_Hey, why did you laugh?" _a voice in the teacher's head spoke coldly but softly. A voice that wasn't his.

Huh?

The teacher's pupils were shifting in his eyes as he adjusted his glasses with a cough.

"N-Now, what high school would you all like to attend?"

Murmurs were heard from all over, collectively sharing their ideas and forgetting about Izuku the second their own concerns were the spotlight of a topic. Izuku looked around at everyone, labelling their colours in his head and finding it ultimately interesting and sad that they thought they had such freedom to decide what they'd do in life. Majority of them said they would become a hero, which was to be expected considering how popular heroes were. But for all the wrong reasons. Not for chivalry or out of the goodness of their hearts, but for the fame and wealth that came with it. It was despicable in Izuku's eyes, but he just silently watched them confidently call out their goals and aspirations, for nobody could break the Original Sin that each and everyone of them had.

However, a blonde-bombshell orally refused the civilisation of fairness. As expected.

"I'm going to U.A." he said pompously with a smirk. _'Ehhhh'_'s and _'no way'_'s were emitted from all the students but before further dispute, the bell finally rang, indicating the end of PCT, Pastoral Curriculum Time and the beginning of lessons. But right before the students were dismissed, the teacher cleared his throat and a daft smirk slid onto his lips.

"Midoriya. _You_ stay behind!"

"Tch! Yeah, Deku stay behind!" Mimicked Bakugou before leaving the room with the other minions following his steps. Izuku was irritated that he had to be kept behind and was worried that his mother would be contacted, but then something in the back of his head was telling him to just go on with it. Something was bugging him to keep walking towards the teacher. As he walked closer towards the teacher he noticed that his original chubby physique was, in a sense 'disappearing'.

Now, the room was completely empty and the only sound you could hear were muffled footsteps and giggles coming from the students outside. The teacher, who had always been blue, began to fade into a whole different colour completely - a whole different shade. It was as if he was becoming _someone else._ He turned white. A colour Izuku had only seen himself be. The teacher looked like he was wearing some kind of cloak and his arm was outstretched towards Izuku's eyes and the closer he got the brighter the white became. It was blinding for an already 'blind' boy. It was painful for a boy who was already in pain. It was Godly for an already..

"N-No, but that's.." Izuku fainted at the teachers touch. "...impossible.."

Spells of Her and He, a quest of two birds.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter four - **_Stuff of Dreams: Desolation_

With hazy vision and sluggish, heavy arms, Izuku slowly looked around to get a sense of where he was. The first thing he saw were needles pinned into his arms and a respirator suffocatingly stuck to his face along with the daunting, relentless pang of the IV drop that lay heavenward. Upon the discovery of these items and becomings, Izuku came to the conclusion that he was in hospital. How was he to feel about this?

"_H-How..When? Where's mom..?" _were the untamed thoughts that flew in liberty through his head like spirits. But Izuku decided to keep calm and think his situation through in a logical manner as he always did. Izuku saw his mother's blue silhouette snoring softly away at the foot of his bed with yellowing carved apples at the side of his table - 'twas most likely her who did such a sweet thing for him. No doubt about that. Now that he had established the safety of his mother and his own rough location, a hospital, he began to contemplate about the reason he was there in the first place and who caused him to be in the hospital. He practised a breathing method to truly relax his joints and muscles and pinpoint where the pain was coming from.

"_C'mon..C'mon..!" _he thought trying to keep composure. He then suddenly felt a slight throbbing in his shoulders and neck and also his forehead. Good - he knew where he had been hurt. Who had done it? Izuku briefly retraced his steps...He was in a classroom - ah yes! His classroom. The room in which he lightly shunned Bakugou Katsuki, yes. The more Izuku remembered, the more he felt a sharp pounding in his head, but persistent was Izuku as he continued to delve into his memories.

After being shunned, the topic of the matter had changed and so that left Izuku in the dust. Indeed - and so the te-...and so the teacher asked for him to stay back. Izuku's head was really pounding now as cold sweat dripped from his brow and a scowl was patched on to his face. But so on did Izuku delve. When it was just the teacher and Izuku left in the room, the teacher's colour…

"_The teacher's..what..? Shit.. my head aches so much." _he thought, but he carried on trying to think. The teacher's colour - as this once unprofessional pig of a teacher's arm outstretched to touch his fa-

"Aghh!" Izuku groaned in distress as he immediately cradled his head in his palms. His agony wasn't discriminate in the least as the same amount of suffering that lurked in the depths of his head snuck to the bone of his toe. This jolt of surprising pain caused Izuku to unintentionally kick his mother's head, disrupting her slumber and waking her. She lazily opened her eyes and when she saw her son's cloud of hair again and his pearly eyes glistening, she quickly sprung up to her feet and hugged him for however long time deemed necessary.

"Izuku, Izuku my baby!" she said in between the kisses being pecked on his cheeks. He was still feeling the immense pain penetrating his bones every which way. As soon as Izuku's mother saw this, she brought her hugs and kisses and sweet nothings to an abrupt pause.

Her eyes drooped.

"What's the matter?"

Izuku had become somewhat good at reading people despite not being able to see their facial features. There was still so much information he was interested in - how the heart worked. Both the anatomic and the sentimental one. Izuku analysed the way that happy people would frequently become rabbit-like and speak with energy and purpose while those left to rot on the side of bad and sadness were always so dejected and walked with no spring in their step or life in their speech. Izuku passionately listened to people's breathing patterns and how fast they spoke and the way in which they did so and oh how could one forget about that small quiver in their voice or ah! The raw, crude emotion that dripped in such heavenly viscosity that seeing their faces would dull these simply thrilling experiences.

Izuku decided, based on his mother's mannerisms, that he'd ask questions. Of course, the one thing he loved since childhood. Questions! The story of Abel, it did lead to questions.

"Say, mom," Izuku said suppressing his hurt. "How did I get here and for what reason?"

His mother tilted her head and placed a finger on her lips in question.

"My, has my son got amnesia? Why, of course you're here because you fell down the stairs at school." his mother continued, staring at the rotten apples blandly. "The teachers said that you were previously feeling dizzy and when my dizzy son is paired with a long staircase in solitude...the outcome is plain as day."

Izuku's grasp on the white sheets tensed even more whilst hearing these toppling lies and misconceptions jumping above each other - like a race. The tower of lies and doubts were reaching its peak, being Izuku's mental state, ready to tumble down at any given moment; leaving none at the hands of mercy. All the while, Izuku had a blank face of neither anger nor sadness, happiness nor relief.

"Ah, me, but that can't be right...it isn't right..?" muttered Izuku getting slowly more trapped in his own little abstract cage of doom. His mother's gaze, now cold and pitiless, shifted towards a pot of withering flowers.

"You," Izuku continued quietly. "You can't say that. That's- That's like answering a question with a question! It's not allowed! You can't do tha-"

"Will keep your childish whining to yourself, you foolish boy?" she spat as she bothered not to even turn her head.

Who was this woman? It couldn't be mother, no way, haha...Mother was caring with a warm heart that melted like chocolate.

"Who the _hell_ do you think you are, that you dare to even try and dispute with me? Telling me things like this as if life is cleanly cut out just for you. Have you ever felt pain before, boy?"

The shards of a sharp something were stabbing violently at his chest and heart and something was indeed overflowing from within the wounds of the sharp something.

"_Boy, she says. Ah, I am a boy. Indeed, I am nothing more than a boy."_ Izuku thought in realisation, remembering his Oath and the salty tears his mother wept away that night.

"Pain?" Izuku said with a complete change in demeanour. His usual stoic and carefree smile had made quite the explicit return. A new mask? No, never. This was him through and through.

"I don't know what pain really is, Mother." Izuku said with an apologetic smile as he cocked his head to the side. "Sorry!"

Izuku's mother said nothing for a moment, quite similarly to the way she had done after the confirmation of her son's blindness. Truly, she was barely holding it together and didn't know what- no _who_ to act as. What was she to do? Did it really matter in the end when she had a son who hadn't a clue of what he was really saying? He's a Middle Schooler - what does he know?

She looked to Izuku again in an elusive way, nobody -not even Izuku- knew what she was trying to say or show. Was it a goodbye or love in its purest form? It was anyone's guess.

"Izuku, the apples rotted before you could eat them and the flowers have died as well. They aren't pretty anymore, eh?" she said with a smile before exiting the premises. Izuku was left in the room all alone with that thick, uncomfortable feeling of...? What was it called again..he felt it all the time when looking at all the hopelessly horrid people and he felt it ever since the founding of Original Sin. No, it was even further back than that.

"What is my fate? This feeling. It must have a name right?" Izuku said smiling, though practically tearing the bedding. "It hurts but I can't do anything about it. It hurts but I know this isn't pain. Nothing satisfying has happened yet, it can't be happiness. I am alone. No, I have mom!" he quickly contradicted himself with even more of that feeling of..what was it called?

Izuku soon came back to his senses and slapped himself once he realised how much of an idiot he was being. He had forgotten his one and only mission to fulfill.

"Oh, right. I still have that." Izuku chuckled and rubbed his moderately baggy eyes. "Who am I kidding, it's all I have, I'm pretty sure."

What are really conveyed in those eyes?


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter five - **A Power that only I can Wield.

A short couple of years had flown by for Izuku. Some say time flies when you're having fun, but when your vision has been snatched from an early age nothing can really live up to the glory of flight. And so, time ran up to the destination of High School.

In nature, Izuku had not changed much and the same could be said for his personality as well. He was still his relaxed, calculated and dopey self and he still didn't hold much to be important - this was the truth. He didn't grow much heightwise, his hair grew as expected but of course, he still only saw silhouettes and their shades. One could say Izuku was unlucky, many people did, and in a sense he was! However, Izuku had become really quite accustomed to this way of life. One might daresay he liked it. Why, in a world of quirks that apparently granted the person with a unique ability that only they can have or only they can use, one wouldn't dare think that they were all the same. But, in reality all the quirk users were the same - if everyone was unique, was anyone really unique? This was the question.

Now, while I did say Izuku's time had run down to High School, it was only that he had run to the age of High School. Izuku was now around fifteen years old and oh was he still ripe in his age. He was still obviously set on becoming a hero, which to even his mother was unreasonable and unrealistic. Still, Izuku was determined to stay true to his oath and fulfill his self-proclaimed duty.

"_Ah, but isn't that a little far-fetched?"_ his teachers and peers would say.

"_I heard he's handi-capped."_ was often what people would think.

"_Hey, is he a masochist? That's crazy."_ this was the logical thought process. These things, these pitiful comments - they were shovelled into his ears everyday. So much so that Izuku took absolutely no notice to them anyone. He had subconsciously created a steel wall surrounding his heart, though he bore the facade of a compliant and understandable teenager. Nobody would be able to penetrate this wall, for it had been manifested and built upon the ideals of his hardships. Hardships that even he refused to acknowledge.

Yes, Izuku's mind had grown thick and rejected the senseless hate that came his way. Becoming a hero and admiring the heroes; this was the way out and the only way he wouldn't break from guilt and emotion. But…

"_Which hero school? Which mentors? Who to go to and when?"_ Izuku thought mindlessly to himself, not aware of his surroundings. He was on the way to a convenience store because his mother had asked that he buy some bread and milk. Due to him not going outside unless he was forced out, his skin was deathly pale and almost mimicked his eyes. Glassy and porcelain. Though, it was because he was so engrossed in these thoughts that he was approached under a bridge.

Izuku did not know whether it was dark or not but he did know that there was a certain something lurking beneath the underway that he trod upon. Izuku was smart enough to move well away from this...this..? Liquid?

"Hey, kid lend me your body, would ya?" the liquid spoke but before Izuku could escape...before Izuku could even respond..

Izuku was swallowed whole by this body of gunk and waste. Izuku jittered around and made irregular movements with his body in excruciating pain due to him still being human with nerves. He was desperately scratching at the villain with all his might but of course, to no avail.

"Damn, would you quit scratching at me - just stay still for 45 seconds and the pain will soon leave." the slime said.

"_I…was s-so…, foolish..! H-He was red.."_ Izuku could barely think straight. He knew he saw red when he passed beneath the underway - why did he still go there? Because it was the shorter route? Ha, he could now see that the foolish mentality of his would come to bite him in the back. After ten seconds had passed, Izuku could feel his pulse dropping and his head became light - this was his end. Was this the way he would go out? He was now immobile and his mind was imploding on itself.

"_Hey! This is strange, haha.."_

"_This was proabably karma for being such a spoiled fucking brat."_

"_Yes, I suppose it is."_

"_You deserve this, Izuku."_

"_Man, why couldn't you die any quicker? You're lucky you even lived this long in the first place."_

"_Jeez, this is lame."_

"_It hurts so, so much..make it stop."_

THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT IZUKU.

In the midst of death and a knock away from the Door of Expiration, there he was. The Body of Bright Green.

"Texas SMASH!"

Instantly, Izuku's half-dead body made contact with the ground with a tremendous thump. He was alive. He knew he was live because of the ridiculous amount of pain surging through his body. He lay there with his eyelids half open and his body twitching every which way. For a second he thought he was dreaming or in a strange coma because there was certainly no way that All Might was here.

Well, even if it was a dream it's good to make use of it for your own delight. So with all the strength Izuku could be bothered to muster, he uttered a few words.

"S..Symbol of.. P-Peace.." Izuku outstretched his arm as if to block out the sun that was All Might. Izuku was in awe of what he was seeing. Now, Izuku had to really be sure of himself to check if this was a dream or not. In dreams, Izuku could not see his own hands or body. In real life, he could see his own white silhouette. Izuku's eyes widened and at once looked at the white shadow of his own hand. Izuku now somewhere gathered the power to actually stand up and catch his breath. His eyes were large and round, as if he were a doll. He just stared at this marvel in front of him. Many would go against the pillars of religion and compare All Might to a God on Earth. He was the embodiment of good.

"What a blinding shade of green, you really are the sun, All Might." Izuku said without thinking. All Might turned to properly look at Izuku and saw how starry-eyed and dazed he looked.

"Kid, are you alright? You must have hit your head pretty hard. Hellooo?" All Might said kneeling down to Izuku's small height and waving his large hand in his face.

"_Maybe he is bl-" _All Might's thoughts were cut off.

"You're right, I am blind. Well, kinda sorta. How did you know? Hey, don't look so surprised, you are really easy to read, All Might. You know I can see nothing but I can see everything. Hey, answer me. How did you find me? You were looking for that sludge villain weren't you, All Might? Well I was on the verge of death it was quite the experience but I still knew the villain was no match for you. It was so obvious. Ah, I still can't get over how bright you are. It's so mesmerising, All Might." Izuku said as his pupils enlarged and his endless tape of questions unraveled onto the poor man in front of him. This was a part of Izuku's true nature. He was skeptical and inquisitive and had a down right hunger for answers.

Answer them.

"Ah, I...Uh..It's - yes. I suppose that it, uhm.." All Might's words came out in a jumble as he experienced a feeling he had never felt before. His head felt a little numb as he felt like someone was caving into his skull with just words. He couldn't even form a sentence. What was the kid asking again..?

"_What's with this kid? Poor guy must have been badly injured by that damn Sludge Villain."_ All Might thought looking at Izuku in sympathy. But one thing was bothering him.

"_Bright? Green? Blind? Then how did he see me..?"_

All Might shook his head and dismissed the thought as some kind of mental problem. Instead, he patted Izuku on the head.

"You seem full of energy, kid. I'm sure you can make it home on your own safely; it isn't too dark outside." All Might stood up like a tower before bending his legs, ready to take off like the superhero he was. "I'm busy right now. Have a good one, kid!"

Izuku was smart. He was actually very intelligent. Then why did he jump onto this eight-foot-hero as he was about to basically fly in the air at mach two? None of that mattered to Izuku, at that moment, Izuku classified all of that as pessimism. All that this small teenage boy could think of was not leaving the side of All Might. There was no reason to it, really.

"I'll go with you, All Might!"

And so, he did. Izuku latched on tightly to All Might's pockets and due to the clear size difference and his concentration, the monumental pro didn't notice a thing. The air pressure took a toll on Izuku as he really looked like a skeleton, eyeballs and teeth exposed with eye sockets and nostrils flared and all.

Up in the air. It was so much different to being confined to the ground - another form of freedom being taken from man. He was flying!

"_I have always wanted to fly, I feel so free. This feels so nice, I want to stay up here forever and ever...I never want to go down. Ever again.."_ Izuku thought. He was feeling his version of the purest shape of elation. But again, Izuku was not an idiot or a fool. Getting too comfortable meant death for him - not All Might. He should be careful not to lose his grip.

But it was at times like this that Izuku would lose himself and his mind would implode on itself.

"_This bastard is getting all excited."  
_

"_Careful you foolish prick, one slip of the hand and you are dead. Good riddance."_

"_Oi, don't get ahead of yourself."_

"_All Might doesn't care about you! He thinks you're crazy."_

"_It's because you are. Nobody likes that..Not this again."_

"I...d-don't c-care if I'm useless right now!" he somehow said as he flew and cut through the air with the best of the best.

I am so damn happy.

"_Dear, Brain."_ he said in thought. _"This is nice and all, it really is. Mom would scold me if she knew of this happening. But that's what I wanted to say to you, brain! Mother can't scold me if I'm dead - and I will certainly die if I don't alert All Might of my presence."_

So, Izuku fought with his small body and compressed all his power to his arms to tug and tug and tug! Let All Might know. Izuku could feel his arms getting weak and the air pressure was really getting to his health. But he couldn't break the oath. Something bad, worse than death would follow if he did that. The voices that said really mean stuff would overtake him completely.

Nobody could count on Izuku and Izuku couldn't count on anyone, but he had that string of hope left - become a hero. Izuku kept tugging.

All Might eventually, after a few minutes did feel an irritating pull at his hips and waist and my was he baffled upon seeing the pale cloud-like boy holding onto him for dear life. All Might promptly searched for the safest and nearest building within his radius. After finding one, he helped Izuku off his legs and let him catch his breath in given time. Izuku was left panting on the floor. His lungs, chest and his whole body ached and was tired, but his brain was still strong as ever.

"Kid...I told you I was busy and didn't say you were on the verge of death just before? You weren't even fully recovered. Now look at you. Are you sick?" All Might said as he quietly clicked his tongue in annoyance. Izuku saw that All Might was being quite rude but overlooked it as he was used to the seemingly 'nice' people getting tired of him after a little while. Izuku wasn't sad about it anymore. He found it amusing now but he could never get used to it no matter how many times it happened.

"I couldn't control myself, Mr. All Might. But there is reason behind my doings." Izuku replied with a small smile and a brief wave.

"Make it quick, yeah?" All Might voiced.

"Can I become a hero, even though I'm quirkless?"

That question left a bigger impression on All Might than the string of smaller questions from their previous conversation. All Might thought about himself as person for a brief moment - something he rarely did. Then, he looked at the boy and he was stunned. He stood there, fixated at the perfect point of light and visibility, his hair swimming in the gentle flutter of the wind, his eyes glowing like pearls in the depths of an untouched ocean, a burning gluttony for answers…

It was all there and for a second All Might didn't know if this persistent boy was even human. Nevertheless, his duties and his ideals of 'Greater Good' made themselves known all the more.

"I'm sorry, but no, you realistically can't. I know you probably have your reasons for acting the way you do but it isn't safe for the handicapped like you. Hell, you would still have slim chances had you been gifted with a quirk in the first place. There's more to heroism than flashiness, it's very dangerous and we heroes risk our lives daily. Look, with your energy, you could work elsewhere like be a fire-fighter or do an office job. It ain't the most glamourous but it makes a living and is still just as important. Sorry, I gotta go. See ya!"

Different to before, All Might jumped quicker and higher so that Izuku wouldn't be able to grab him again. As though Izuku was a pest. This really left a lasting feeling on Izuku. It was as simple as: Izuku grabbed onto All Might without thinking, All Might did the right thing and was thoughtful enough to not let him die, Izuku was abrupt and asked a certain question, All Might said his piece as he should and left Izuku in the dust.

This seemed like the appropriate way of things, didn't it? Izuku knew this already. So why did his eyes sting, and his lips quiver and why did he make himself bleed?

"Huh…" Izuku said with a blank expression before smiling like an idiot. "I didn't really expect it to go exactly like this. This is weird. I don't like it."

But this was all but necessary in order for him to climb up the ranks as a hero. He had to learn to chase the stars, to swear to the sun, to smile at the masses to listen to the voices and to really _look._

"Don't be pathetic, don't become a bother, don't be a pain, don't be useless, get used to shouting…"

Nobody likes a good for nothing idiot, Deku.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter six - **_It would serve you greatly, sir!_

"Stupid, stupid, stupid…" Izuku recited over and over again as he trudged through the mud before finally setting foot on concrete. It was now getting dark and the last thing he wanted to do was worry his mother. So, forth he went home. When it came to the matter of hope, Izuku was quite conflicted. If everything had been decided from the start, what was hope? Was it merely a fantasy created by man to escape the reality of the Original Sin? It would seem that this was the most plausible answer. I mean, it has been known throughout the history of the civilisation of men that being constricted to a certain way of living for too long became boring, and when it became boring they'd find other means to entertain themselves. But when they did this, they said it was out of hope. But it wasn't, it was more out of the despair of realisation.

"_Ah, so this is how I will live forever."_ and such were the words of a cocooned person wanting a way out. However, Original Sin hindered this. Izuku always thought that hoping for things that were well out of your grasp was a recipe for disaster. Everyone knows that, so why did they commence into their own disappointment? Why do they try and create a way when there is no way?

Why ask to be a hero, Izuku?

"I'm home…" he announced as he removed his shoes and placed them beside the cabinet. He could smell a pungent waft smoothly cut through the air from where he stood. It was drifting in from the kitchen and tickled his nose. It was a warm, warm smell that he knew would be wonderful to drown the sickness in his stomach. Perhaps it would lift his mood.

"_It won't."_ he thought spontaneously. Nevertheless, he walked towards the kitchen to see what was being made.

When he walked in, a blast of gentle hot air hit him immediately and he saw the perfect image of his mother standing there dishing out the food. She turned around, all smiles, and gave him the sweet twinkle he needed. Naturally, he smiled back and went to hug her.

"Ah, Izuku. I didn't hear you come in! I made pork cutlet bowl today." she said, dishing the food.

"Thanks, I was super hungry as well." he replied pulling back his chair. There was a pause in conversation.

"Where are the things I asked you to buy?"

Izuku's face went pale as he just remembered the whole reason he went outside in the first place. This thought triggered a train of other memories, which piled more emotion onto him as well. A dulled version of the betrayal he felt when All Might, Symbol of Peace, knocked down his hopes arose once again. It arose to be much more hurtful than before and so, Izuku's mood was again ruined. Flashbacks of him being indirectly rejected popped into his mind like blinding pangs of light. He couldn't bare that feeling of rejection again, it was the one thing he hated, amongst other things, of course. He didn't like feeling like a burden. He didn't like feeling like trash or being replaceable or disposable.

No, no, no. He hated that. And so, he could no longer sit there and eat the food that his mother had made. Even though he failed to complete such a trivial task as buying groceries, Izuku still felt awful.

"I didn't feel good. And, augh..!" Izuku feigned sickness by gagging and covering his mouth. "I-I don't feel so good right now. I can't eat anything. Excuse me.."

For a second, his mother narrowed her eyes coldly but then instantly switched to being her caring self. This sent chills down the spine of Izuku.

"Of course, go upstairs sweetie."

That abrupt chill that he felt, Izuku was beginning to think it was his imagination. His mother was kind and warm, there was no way she would do anything to tarnish the ethereal image he had of her, save the time of her little outburst in the hospital. Izuku bowed, got up and left the room to walk upstairs.

This left his mother standing alone in the living room. The room's inviting atmosphere soon took a quick 180 as it began to get bitter. Her expression declined into one of pure ire. A white rage that would strike anyone as villainous and evil. Her dark green eyes plummeted into a deeper, darker green which nobody had seen before. An unnamed colour overtook the pearls that were her eyes for a few moments.

With parted lips, an icy room and a melting pot of all the words in every language that resonated with with rage, one might compare the room to a place of horror.

"Why did you lie? I am not a fool, Izuku." she said with wide eyes. Maintaining her false persona, she beamed and stirred the pot. "Well no matter, my love."

Upstairs, Izuku almost threw himself onto his bed and stared at the wooden framing that held the bed together. His mind went haywire with no idea what to think. Dreams were futile and only caused him to further fall into a bottomless melancholy. A sadness that was so desperate to escape in the form of violence and tears, a sadness to desperate that nothing could possibly convert the feeling properly. It bubbled inside of him instead, unable to leave his body in a healthy way. Because of this, he had no choice but to lift his head and keep going.

But make no mistake, lifting your head and simply saying 'I can keep going' does not make you strong nor courageous. Izuku had tried this and it made him look foolish. Foolish like a coward acting and deceiving those around him to make him out to be some kind of hero or someone that had unlimited will-power. Simply saying you can go on doesn't magically make you able to _actually_ go on; this snow-haired boy knew this all too well. Empty words hurt nobody but yourself and would only produce pity from others. To be pitied meant you were being looked down upon and seen as below.

Now, below was something that Izuku prayed and hoped to avoid because to be 'below' meant that you were basically sub-human in a sense. This was the lowest low that he hoped to never reach.

Another self-implosion was closing in, he could feel it. Even if he looked like a coward whilst doing it, holding his head high was the only thing left for him. Become a hero! He had his reasons for this, and these reasons were incredibly differently to those that other teenagers his age bore. He had an oath to keep, nothing noble. But how? _HOW?_

"_HOW DOES ONE BECOME STRONG WHEN THEY'RE A PIECE OF SHIT?"_

"_You. Are. Incompetent."_

"_How about you stop being a lazy, useless, crying, whiny brat and get up to do something, eh?"_

"I need words of encouragement." he said drily in a dark tone. The one he idolised, what would he do at that moment?

All Might, hey All Might! Listen, yes over here.

If there was no way out, if there was no way to get stronger, what would you do? You are the only one who could come out of this. You're practically a God right? You understand, right?

Oh, it's all clear to me now. As expected of All Might.

All right, I'll do it.

* * *

The morning! The time of happiness and jest. A time for those to strive for victory and those who have the courage to jump into the unknown future. The sun would give the strong strength to keep going and to aim for even higher heights. That blue sky that always washed over everyone, what was it always thinking?

"Fuck…" Izuku groaned with a tear stained face. He slapped his hand over his eyes to block out...nothing. There was nothing to block out when he couldn't see anything like sunlight or people's faces. He felt so down, like there was nothing to live for after a day of emotion like yesterday. After yesterday, his throat was raw and dry and all he could want at that moment was eternal peace. He wouldn't get it of course but a guy could dream. He forced himself out of bed and sluggishly went to brush his teeth and change his clothes. He knew not what the day would hold but he knew that something strange would happen soon. Certain vibrations told him such. Today, Izuku would prepare. But he wasn't the only one getting ready for that certain something.

Abnormally, Izuku didn't hear the sound of footsteps or humming like he would often do from the kitchen or his mother's bedroom. He didn't smell the scent of bacon and he didn't feel the heat of the cooker...Izuku could not feel the presence of another person. He quickly put on a black tracksuit and his favourite red sneakers before quickly jogging downstairs to see what the situation was. What he was about to see, was something that would stay with him forever and reshape the perspective he had of himself.

When he went downstairs, there was nothing there. Everything was perfectly put in its designated place, not a thing was out of order. Everywhere was unsettlingly clean. He looked around the living room and the kitchen for his mother and saw she was nowhere to be seen. Her shoes were not by the cabinet like they always were. This somewhat calmed Izuku.

"She must have gone to get some stuff from the store, I'm sure." he thought logically. He was about to calmly go upstairs until he saw something on the edge of the table. Must've been something he missed in his state of panic, he walked towards it and grabbed the small black device. Though he couldn't see the small details, he could feel and see there were buttons but not the labels.

"_A voice recording device?"_ he thought. He flicked the largest switch he could feel. Then, he heard a small segment of static before hearing his mother's reassuring voice. In a crinkled tone, the device emitted his mother's voice.

"_Izuku, you are probably wondering where I am. I have been offered a job elsewhere to do with engineering and stuff that require exact precision. My quirk allows me to move incredibly small objects, so this was very fitting. I have taken the job. Duty calls. I hope you understand. Actually, you will understand soon. Do you resent me?-"_

The audio had finished - or perhaps Izuku had cut off the audio. Perhaps Izuku had heard enough because with an expression like the one he had on at that moment was disgusting. It was disgustingly vexed and disgustingly lonely. His face at that moment was one that if stared at too long, the person staring would bare the same face. A face like a poltergeist.

She sounded too cold. And she just left? This was unbelievable and downright confusing. Izuku had so many questions and he didn't know what to say. He couldn't say anything to anyone. His lips had gone dry and he touched his throat. The throat was useless if he couldn't at least speak. What was this called again? He turned around and observed all he could see. Everything seemed so much more dull, or was it more vibrant? How could she? How dare she?

"..cold…" he muttered. He didn't feel like eating. He didn't feel like sleeping or keeping his eyes open. He couldn't bare being this much of a waste-of-space.

He was now so empty, as hollow as an old withering oak tree. Without thinking he threw the recording and sped through the door with a mind full of impurities. He just ran wherever his legs would take him without stopping.

"_Was I so useless that even my own mother left me?"_ he ran. He ran into the abyss, recognising nobody, seeing nothing. He kept running and running, ignoring the sharp frost that burned his face. Uncontrollable tears froze as they left off his face and hit the ground before shattering into a million little fragments. Like little bombs of hate. His mother had gone, he had nobody to turn to and he was in the middle of nowhere. This was the worst of the worst kind of situation for him right now. It was incredibly idiotic of him to just run like that. Ah, there he was being stupid again.

"I'm so tired of this… how much longer.." he said in a breath before collapsing to his knees. There was nobody around him to observe the physical breakdown of this boy and he was glad of that. He needed oxygen. He had been running to absolutely nothing for God knows how long and he fell to his knees when he was at his limit. He didn't even have the energy to cry; only to speak.

His eyes resembled golf balls, as they were large and vacant. Aiming for nothing, fruitless. With a shaking arm, he slowly lifted up his hand and weakly slapped himself.

"Get up."

He balled his hand into a fist and harshly punched the prickly, hard ground on which he stood upon. Exerting an unnecessary amount of force on himself did not bother him and the pain was numbed. His blood stained the ground and his knuckles were throbbing and red. His legs were feeble and slow as he tried to stand. He fell down again and again three times before successfully getting up to walk to wherever he felt was right.

An aimless star, racing to the bright sky. It was you I was doing this for.

* * *

In his room and on the floor, an angry spiky-haired blonde was stretching his legs as he prepared to train for his consequent goal: getting into UA. The UA Entrance Exam was the thing he absolutely had to strike for in order to be the greatest hero. With furrowed brows and loud grunts, he stretched his hand to his feet for thirty-seconds before doing push-ups for three minutes. Then to conclude his warm up, he rotated his shoulders, like he was going to throw the most dangerous explosion he'd ever thrown before.

"All right, done! Now to pick up the weights." he said in a hoarse kind of voice. As he curled his arms and flexed his muscles, he thought of all the things he would be able to do once he was idolised and Number One. All the people that would envy him, all the praise he would get, all the strength and every single thing he deserved as the strongest of them al-

"_You don't even deserve it."_

There was a brief silence in the room before Bakugou had a burst of anger and punched his door, almost breaking it, which resulted in his mother screeching at him. His teeth were grit, his fists were clenched and his fury went all the way up. He could not bare the thought of that wretched Deku's face and the words he spewed. The condescending way he said that line and that damn smirk of his made Bakugou seriously want to kill someone. Anyone that made him this vexed would often not have the will to live after a while. He'd beat them into a humanoid pulp that didn't have any of the distinct features they had previously. But Deku...that shitty Deku always found a way to wriggle out one way or another! No- It wasn't that. It was that Deku _did_ get beat up but he'd still look so free from tension like he had nothing to worry about. It pissed Bakugou off.

Angrily, he worked harder than before to get closer to his goal.

"Don't get in my fucking way, Deku."

* * *

It was nightfall now and walking around, Izuku seemed to stand out even more now, with him being a literal blank page and all. Stumbling around in his chunky red sneakers, he had now calmed down and had the urge to slap himself again over the little tantrum he had before. I mean, it was all justified, wasn't it? If something must be discarded, discard it. This was what happened to him, easy and simple. But different to before, he understood what he had to do even more so now. He had to go to the best hero school there was: UA. This was the only way to truly fulfil his purpose. Maybe then, once his purpose had been excerced, maybe once he had done his duty he would feel a lasting, authentic satisfaction.

Humming a silly little tune, Izuku calmly walked with his arms angled on his head in a relaxed fashion. He somehow found himself in a dark alleyway that reeked of death and walked a little more before he was stopped by the ear-splitting cry of a dying man. The cries scratched violently at his ears and was the equivalent to nails grinding against a blackboard. The scent of blood stung his nose and eyes strongly and the ground felt wet.

"That silhouette.. Hmm." he said observing what was happening. He walked a little closer curiously and saw the corpse twitching. He saw a silhouette fast as lightning jump on top of the sky-high building that stood overhead. Izuku smugly smiled at this and squatted down at the corpse.

"You can come down at your own pace, villain." he said to himself before he looked at the silhouette of the dead man fade from green to an ill mundane grey. "My, who did this to you? They didn't waste anytime, I can see this."

Suddenly emerging from the shadows of the tall building, a tall, bloodied figure, whom was armed to the teeth with blades and swords of very kind. Izuku's eyes expanded larger than ever and his mouth curled into a little grin. The figure stood, looking down at Izuku with an overbearing aura that made the air thick. Any other person would simply suffocate with the air being so thick but Izuku didn't have to worry over daft things like that.

"Hmm? Are you Stain, the Hero Killer by any chance?" Izuku asked casually in the black atmosphere. Stain immediately clicked his tongue and stepped forward, closer to Izuku.

"What's it to a brat like you?"

"Why'd you do that?" Izuku now went a little mad. "You know, kill that person so brutally? A grudge? My, my even villains can stoop this low. But couldn't you do it elsewhere? Why here? Hey, are you gonna kill me? You are Stain, right? Man, how do you even see in a place like this? Why're you guarded like this with so many blades? Scared? I can't imagine why, I can see that you are much deadlier than your average villain."

Being bombarded with questions by someone who wasn't afraid or running for their lives was something new to this villain. The kid was like an insect; an incredibly irritating, crushable insect.

"And what do you mean by 'see'?" the villain questioned, irritated. Izuku then bore the same troublesome smirk as the Chesire cat as he walks up to the detrimental villain and taps him on the shoulder whilst he bares his fang-like canines with a dry chuckle.

"You are blood red."

Well isn't that just terrible?


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter seven - **_The Falling of Icarus_

Declining further into darkness and nearing the shore of evil, Kin of the Craftsman and a red fiend stood face to face. Caring not for his safety, questions would soon leak from his mouth. With wax wings, he flew.

Looking perplexed, Stain questioned the sanity of this odd boy, who was clothed in black. What on earth did he mean when he said 'you're blood red'? Now was not the time to be speaking in the tongue of a poet; the kid's intentions were unclear. Stain began to analyse Izuku. His body was small and looked frail, he didn't seem to radiate any form of nervousness but he wasn't being arrogant either. He wore bright red sneakers and was masked in black. And then there was his hair and eyes - white. There was not a tinge of silver or black or grey. It was the blankest and plainest shade of white he'd ever seen. White and soft looking Izuku's hair seemed, but it didn't strike Stain as cute at all. That thought never crossed his mind. In fact, the longer he stared at Izuku, the more unsettling and creepier he seemed. Uncontrollably, Stain's face creased and he thought 'what's wrong with him'.

"_But I've seen eyes like those before. You can't see or predict anything within them. They're hollow and lifeless."_ Stain thought without a shred of pity.

Stain grabbed Izuku's forearm and yanked him closer to his chest.

"You, whose eyes reflect nothing, what is your goal? What is your purpose?" he posed in intimidation. Izuku was unfazed by this and answered calmly in the face of calamity.

"I promised to be a hero, not that it's any of your business. I'm going to UA. Nothing will stop me from fulfilling this goal." he said with piercing eyes. The tone in which Izuku spoke was stern and absolute - like he was stating a fact. "And it'd do you good to release your grip from my arm, Hero Killer."

Stain pauses and thinks. He then harshly throws Izuku away onto the cold ground.

"And what's a kid like you doing here, hm?" Stain scrutinises with red, slit-like eyes. "A brat like you is too weak to even throw a decent right hook, let alone become a hero. Look at your arms and legs, they're thin and weak. You don't have what it takes; I'd know."

Even though the throw he received was intensely painful and sent a sharp sensation through every cell in his body, Izuku still got up with glassy pupils. Like a serpent would look back at a beast with daring eyes, Izuku's white orbs slid up his eyes and glared hardly at Stain with no regret.

"You think that'll stop me?"

A razor feeling. Fast as a ninja's blade and lasting as a lover's words. This was Izuku's look; this was the way he stared. Such an virgin feeling and a crude glance, it incited a strange feeling of panic in Stain for less than a nanosecond. It was the first time in his life he felt like this, and sensing nobody else within their radius, the feeling could only have come from the boy in front of him.

"_There's no way such a feeling was caused by that brat. No way."_ Stain thought in desperation. He dismissed the feeling as his imagination and locked eyes with the boy in silence. With the brief silence taking over the two people, Izuku had to admit that Stain was somewhat correct - how was he going to be a hero with such a weak stature? Simply wishing for something didn't mean it would happen; the world would be in chaos otherwise.

"_His reflexes were superhuman - out of this world even. I'll need to use whatever and whoever I need to succeed in this."_ Izuku thought to himself. So, he swallowed his pride.

"You know, now that I think about it, you aren't entirely wrong. I _am_ weak and I am _incapable_ in this form." Izuku said finally as he grunted getting up on his feet. "So I am asking that you train me until I can fight against you, like equals!" Izuku said with a sweet beam, which felt out of place in a ghost town such as this.

"Not happening." Stain said immediately. "I am the Hero Killer, not your local baby-sitting service. "I commend you for having no fear around me but that doesn't make us buddies, brat. Why should I help you if it doesn't benefit me or my ethos?"

"Piece of mind. Maybe you'll learn something, Stain." Izuku said with a small laugh.

"_So he can make an expression like that too, the brat."_ Stain thought, subconsciously relieved. He sighed and stomped his foot on the ground, breaking the concrete.

"See if you can keep up, maybe then I'll train you." Stain said before taking off with sublime speed.

"You bastard!" Izuku said, running after him.

"_So that's the type of person you are, huh, Stain. Fine by me."_ Izuku thought, chasing after the shadow of red. These were the first steps he had to take. As he ran, he almost forgot his fatigue. Izuku was much slower than Stain, more than he'd like to admit, but he wouldn't let his weakness hinder him anymore than it had back then.

Back then.

After about half an hour, the two of them arrived at an abandoned building that gave off the impression that someone probably died in there. When Stain looked surprisingly behind at Izuku, he finally collapsed onto the ground and heaved in large amounts of oxygen with a puffy, sweaty face. He had never run like that in his life and prayed it'd be the last time he would have to endure such an ordeal. Of course if Stain would coach him like Izuku requested, it would probably not be the last time.

What seemed like five years of huffing and puffing had gone on and Izuku eventually became stable again. Stain had no longer been waiting for the child and so, he went inside the building to do whatever he had to do.

Izuku walked into the grey building and saw that the walls were rotting and that the doors were coming off slowly but surely. The floor was bare and unexpectedly there were little to no bugs around. On the floor, was an old rice-container, beer bottles, a bed and a blade-sharpener. Nothing much else was around. Izuku looked around and calculated how many square metres filled the room. Mumbling his calculation obliviously, he didn't notice Stain staring at him in wonder. How could one have so much to say?

Drinking water from his bottle, Stain thought, _"Well, so long as he abides by my rules and doesn't bother my way of living. So help me if my crusades are put on hold…"_

Stain suddenly silenced his entire being, including his heart beat, before speedily teleporting behind Izuku in his most vulnerable state and firmly kicking him in the back of his spine. Izuku cried an ear-splitting cry, rolling and tossing and turning on the cold unforgiving floor. Feeling like his bones had been split into a thousand blades, the pale child felt many deadly surges pass through his body and he fret in agony for an hour or two.

"The fucking kick wasn't even that hard. Get up." Stain boomed in a terrific air. Izuku felt like he would cry at any moment in time that second.

"I..I can't…" he grumbled on the floor.

"I said…" Stain got closer to Izuku. "_Get up."_

Izuku could feel one of his hundred self-implosions kicking in. A voice lacking in warmth. But to his surprise...

"_Don't be so shameful Izuku. It was you who wanted to be a hero in the first place. Now, stand up! Become the hero you were meant to be! It's your sin - your Original Sin!"_

Like an apparition, Izuku bounced back and dodged the next detrimental kick coming his way like it was nothing.

"I…" Izuku said in courage. "I won't falter!"

What? Stain was stunned for the first time in his life. Really, properly stunned. He didn't expect the brat to dodge the kick like that. Nobody had ever done that before and he for once felt a chance arise for Izuku. Before, when he was crying and weak, he had already believed that the writing was on the walls - he wouldn't amount to much at all.

BUt nobody had ever dodged his kicks, let alone at such a _speed!_

Again!

Stain, now pumped up, gathered power into his right leg and aimed for the middle of Izuku's spine like before and launched.

And...Izuku shrieked in agony again.

"Brat, was that dodge before just a fluke? What was that? And then you have the nerve to act all high and mighty with your little 'I won't falter'! Ha! You aren't a hero ye-"

Stain taunted Izuku, expected to have the cloud-like boy's sharp tongue on a roll. Instead, Izuku recovered quicker than the first time he was hit and this time his white eyes roared passionately with a burning hunger to get stronger. Even though he was hit, he showed no sign of backing down. He punched the ground with his fist and looked at The Hero Killer in determination.

"I wasn't lying though: I will not falter. I will not become barren. I will get up as many times as needed." repeated Izuku. Stain stopped attacking for a little bit, just a little bit, and saw how truly terrifying Izuku actually was. Setting aside physical appearance...setting aside physical strength. The way Izuku could adapt like this was the scary part. The way he looked when he finally did the exact thing that was needed for something to work; it was one for the books. Perhaps Izuku's dream of becoming a hero wasn't so far-fetched. Maybe it really wasn't so ridiculous after all.

"_Maybe I won't have to kill this one after all."_ thought Stain jestfully. Izuku stood up on his own two feet now and didn't waver, despite the excruciating pain in his feet and spine. Well, the adrenaline was numbing that for the moment.

"So, kid what's your name, age and quirk?"

"Izuku Midoriya. I am 14. And.. I do not have a quirk."

Stain kept the same face as he always did, not judging Izuku. He was the vigilante, 'The Hero Killer'. He had no right to judge and he didn't even think to judge. But realistically, being quirkless meant your limit was in closer reach than the people with quirks.

"What the hell, who cares. It's just a little bit more work than usual." Stain whispered to himself. Then, he spoke louder. "Okay, Midoriya. You're quirkless… just means we'll need to put in extra pain and extra effort."

Izuku sat down on the ground and yawned, stretching his left leg in front of him and his right leg inwardly folded towards his pelvis.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I'm blind." he waved his hand in his face with a soft smile. "As in I can't see anything. I mean…," and so Izuku delved into a lengthy explanation on how his 'vision' worked'. He skipped the part of Original Sin as he deemed it unnecessary and he didn't know who to trust. By the time he had finished he fell asleep and left Stain alone, encapsulated in his own thoughts. All he had been told seemed like a fairy tale, it was so unreal and silly but it explained the 'blood red' thing. In fact, it explains why you can't see his eyes and such.

"_It's not a quirk...is it? It seems more ethereal than quirks for some reason. It is so much more strange and odd. Agh, but that's what quirks are, right? This brat...I knew he was different. Well, it doesn't change much and I still have stuff to do. I can't go around worrying over what he told me." _Stain looked in heed at Izuku. _"Well, he's asleep now. I'll deal with everything else tomorrow."_

Once morning had finally shon upon them and Izuku was awoken by a foot - a foot being kicked right into hit behind to be exact. Not his mother's cooking, not by an alarm or any sweet _Good Morning's_. None of that, the mornings were harsh. Izuku looked at his lower back and saw a dark purple bruise there and he was shortly after welcomed warmly with loud shouting.

"Wake up! This isn't some hotel for free-loaders, get up you brat!" shouted Stain loudly. Izuku didn't have the energy to shout back and instead he hugged himself and squeezed his eyes shut, hoping this whole encounter had been a dream or some sick nightmare. But it wasn't, Izuku himself had chosen this path last night.

"_Ugh, why did I say all that stuff back then? I have a house to go to. But now I'm in the middle of nowhere."_ Izuku thought in regret, much different to the feelings from before. Though against his body's will, Izuku grit his teeth and got up to work his body.

"You took your time."

"Just be done with it." Izuku said in a sour tone rubbing his eyes.

"Oi," Stain quicker than light had the sword appear out of its sheath and an inch away from Izuku's face in less than two seconds. "I didn't take you on so that you would be having your teenage moods with me. Get a grip and fix up, got it Midoriya?"

Izuku wasn't used to having his last name called out like that. The last time he heard 'heard' was from his teacher, whom tormented him along with his peers and classmates. Izuku suddenly remembered that teacher and thought about where he went after that. The teacher who outstretched his hand out, the teacher who turned to a bright colour - which he had only seen himself be - the teacher that seemed to change appearance.

What _did_ happen that day?

"oi...OI KID!" Stain screamed in his face with bulging eyes. Izuku was startled. "Don't go into your own little monologue like that while I'm talking to you. What were you even thinking of anyway?"

Izuku's eye contact drifted elsewhere. "Nothing important."

"Hmph. Anyway, I'll be teaching you the basics of martial arts, starting with the kicks. There's the three which I'll be telling you today: Axe Kick, Spinning Hook Kick and the Flying Back Kick. Now…"

Izuku was hit with all three, a second apart from each other. Of course, Stain didn't hold back but made sure not to make it so bad that Izuku's take forever to get up again. Holding his pain under his breath, he sat on the ground and looked up to Stain before getting up with buckling knees.

"I can tell you're smart, brat. So I trust you recorded the places you were hit and the legs, muscles, speeds and impacts I used in order to get hits like that up here, right?" Stain tapped his temple.

"Y-Yes...I did."

Stain inwardly grinned.

"Good. Now hit me with all three."

"Sorry, that's impossible." Izuku admitted immediately to the vigilante. Stain crossed his arms and slit Izuku's cheek.

"Now hit me with all three." he repeated monotone. Izuku frowned and quickly learned that when Stain repeated things, it wasn't because he was asking for it to happen, it was command.

"I'm doing this for my own sake, don't expect anything extravagant." Izuku said, readying his legs. With all his might, he did exactly what Stain did - in the sense that he used all the same muscles, speed and legs as he had done. The only difference was that Izuku was much weaker and smaller than Stain, it was a mere love touch. But the reason for that could be because of how he hadn't eaten in a day and hadn't rested properly, who knows. The fact of the matter was that Izuku had performed the best he could and that Stain wasn't satisfied. He certainly wasn't satisfied but he wasn't so foolish to believe they'd have the same strength in the first place.

"Again." Izuku repeated the action.

"Again." Izuku did it again.

"Again, harder. Use more force." Izuku reluctantly took this on board.

"_I can see a pattern forming and I do not like where this is going."_ Izuku thought in foresight.

"Again this, again, that! What's the point of-"

"Keep this going, Midoriya."

Izuku clicked his tongue in defeat and carried it on. What was he trying to accomplish?

I don't see the point.

An hour had passed and Izuku was sweating and on his knees as he did his last Axe Kick.

"You can rest now." Stain said at long last. Izuku downed two giant water bottles and found himself to be taken short. Relieving himself, he came back to Stain with a refreshed body but an irritated mind.

"Why did you do that? What was the point? I don't think you're taking me seriously." Izuku told him plainly with clenched fists. You could almost see the hell-flame dancing in his eyes.

"You learned something though, didn't you?" Stain said, drinking a bottle of water. "As long as you use your muscle memory to its full extent and remember all I have taught you, me taking you seriously is irrelevant. You are all rested up aren't you? Now we will learn karate, consisting of powerful kicks!"

There was a deafening silence in the room and you could hear a pin drop. This was the calm before Izuku's storm.

"_STAIN!"_

This form of training went on for six months. The level of difficulty increased every week and soon, Izuku could spar on par with Stain… most of the time. With this and a little more help, the UA Entrance exams really would be interesting.

For you, who appeared before my eyes like a memory. To them, who slept on our behalf.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter eight - **_The Volta_

His breaths fusing airs with the fumes of the air, his arms bent over on his knees like an apparition, the deadset hollowness in his eyes; All Might's being. Sitting in the chair alongside a miniature chimera like mouse and a dark-haired man with lengths of bandages hugging his shoulders, the three powerhouse heroes sat looking out of the window which revealed a vast space of activity. But for what reason did solemness take harbour in their faces?

"Today's the day, All Might." the small creature said. He looked determined with an adorable little face and a dapper suit. "Now, don't look so sad! This is an opportunity, take this time to really look for a suitable successor."

The lanky blonde man was silent and only curved his back all the more. The man with long black hair side-eyed the man called All Might in judgement. While he knew rushing things like this would be counterproductive, time was of the essence and he knew that although All Might seemed godly, he certainly wouldn't live forever.

"Toshinori, look. There's Mirio Togata that could successfully wield your power. Remember? The third year kid with blue eyes." the scarfed man said, making circles with his fingers and placing them over his eyes, imitating this 'Mirio'. "He has a righteous sense of justice, he is reliable and is incredibly strong, even amongst us heroes. I do not understand what the issue here is. Why are you being coy? Even with these miscellaneous kids that will come in today, you still want to be like this, I don't get it."

The mouse-like creature gestured his hands to the man as if to calm him down a bit. All Might clenched his fists and appeared to be thinking even harder than before. It was all but clear that something was seriously on his mind and that until that 'something' had been solved, the two heroes would be talking to a brick wall.

This was good and all, figuring this out but, the bandaged man was losing patience.

"Toshi-"

The man was cut off when All Might's caving eyes looked up at the two of them. The room was flushed in a weird sense of solidarity at this point, though the three of them were there.

"Was I foolish to ignore a boy's hopes? Aizawa, Nezu."

The two of them reacting expectedly when the heavy question had been raised and their names mentioned. Nezu's eyes widened and stood still for a small moment. He sighed and trotted back to his seat. Meanwhile, the scruffy-looking hero narrowed his own and stayed standing. The silence was killing All Might and he wanted an answer.

"It's been eating me alive, hah…" All Might said with an empty chuckle and a wipe of the brow. This further deepened Nezu and Aizawa's confusion.

"What are you talking about? Elaborate, All Might." Nezu said resting his chin on the conjoined bridge of his two hands.

"I'm sure you have heard of the Sludge Villain? Well, I was on duty trying to catch him and at one point in time, he was found under a bridge by none other than myself. It was as I was about to go under this lonely underpass, I saw a boy. He looked around the age of the first years and he had these...these _really_ distinct features - once you saw him you'd never forget him. His ivory skin and pearl eyes and - and...that cloud of white hair. It was all burned into my memories. He was under that bridge and seemed to be holding some daily essentials. It was all calm until the Sludge villain attempted to take over the boy's body…"

Aizawa tilted his head upwards and stared at the ceiling before inclining his head as before. Nezu didn't move an inch.

"Go on." Nezu said in a serious tone.

"In short, I saved the boy and contained the villain temporarily. I assume the boy was a fan of mine or some kind of hero-enthusiast because you should've seen the way his eyes shined, and his brain! You could almost hear the chime of the clocks working in his head or the gears turning as he spoke. It was a sight to see. He asked me a load of questions, way too many for me to answer in a short space of time and mind you, I still had work to do that day. I quickly told him of my business and left but then he latched onto my leg. I hadn't noticed until I was already in the air. So, I went to a nearby building and stopped on top of its roof. It was at this point that he asked me… a question that will probably stay with me forever.."

All Might paused, the tension was unbearable. The two heroes held onto every syllable of every word he said. Eyes wide and unblinking, lips parted, noses were not sniffing in the very air keeping them alive. It was like a song of magic being sung into their ears by All Might. All Might was the wizard here.

"He said: 'Can I become a hero, Even though I'm quirkless?'. I said no. I said...no! And you should've seen his face, it was like a melting pot of desperation, sadness emotionless and acceptance. All in all, it looked like he was expecting it. And that was what hurt me the most, the fact that I could have at least given him the hope to keep smiling and to keep his head working and to keep him being the kid he was supposed to be." All Might said with shut eyes and guilt dripping excessively from everything he said. The three of them could the distant voices of the teenagers entering the auditorium. One of those voices could've been this boy. This is what they thought.

"And to think I was so damn stupid, I didn't even catch his name! Has the glory gotten to my head..?" All Might said talking now to himself rather than his colleagues. "And to think I was in the same position as him once. Who do I think I am? I was him, he was me…"

"All Might!" Nezu slammed his paws on the table soundly. Aizawa said nothing and instead stared at All Mightnin mysterious. "I can see you have been dwelling on this for a while. The fact that you have reviewed your mistakes already shows me you are human and you are still good and that even you can make mistakes." He patted his friend on the shoulder. "But it goes without saying, what you did was horrible and I daresay heartless. But you can't change the past, only look towards the future. You know that more than anyone, Toshinori Yagi."

All Might groaned deeply and buried his face in his hands.

"_And Aizawa hasn't even said anything. Knowing him, he's probably more disappointed in me than I am myself. How can I even face anyone?_" All Might thought as he quickly glanced at Aizawa through the slit in between his fingers.

Simply swiveling his chair to face the window and all that lay beyond it, the grumbly man spoke with a sense of authority.

"'_Go Beyond Plus Ultra!' - _is what you will be saying to those kids. Very soon, you will be their teacher. You will need to help them when they mess up, scold them when needed and sometimes give them a shoulder to cry on. What you did to that boy that day cannot be changed, instead learn from that and act accordingly. I know that you are capable of that, All Might."

"A learning experience, huh." All Might said, scratching his chin looking at his feet before looking up, much differently to before. "You are right, the both of you! I will learn from this stupid mistake of mine and move forard. This is all I can do for you, boy. I can move forward and never second guess myself."

All Might now stood up in triumph with a mighty grin. His blue eyes shined a lot more now and his melancholy was leaving him. That sour lour was no more.

Nezu smiled at this, having an old friend like this going from the depths of the sea to the top of the sun in almost a split second; this was the hero they called The Pinnacle of Hope, Symbol of Peace.

Him, great and shining with a toothy grin and nothing to worry about. Secure your wings with a strong wax, lest you should fall hard to the sea from which you were bred.

"Recognising an epiphany is good and all but please remember that you are here to find a successor. Mirio Togata is still there to train." Aizawa said with his cheek resting on his fist.

"I know, I know, relax. I am interested in seeing what these first years have to offer, you never of what surprise might befall you unless you're fed with the nutrient of patience."

Aizawa frowned in disgust.

"Oi, don't get ahead of yourself now that you have realised the obvious. What are you, a poet? Piss off with that, Mr Hero."

Nezu, whom was previously only concerned for his work, snickered from under his breath and roared with laughter, as did All Might.

This was good, everyone was playing their role as they should. This was the _Calm_.

* * *

In the auditorium, an overhyped commentator filled the empty space with his loud, annoying voice.

"HELLOOOOOOO, KIDS! WHO'S READY TO GET GOING?!" the eager man in all black with tall, gravity-defying blonde roared. A deafening silence was his answer. But no, no, no, don't be fooled! That didn't discourage him.

"My name is Present Mic, and today is the U.A Entrance Exam, as you all know! This is a practical exam whereby you must destroy all of the robots in your path. Destroying an easy villain means you score one point, destroying a medium villain means you score two points and destroying difficult villains scores you three points!" the flamboyant hero smirked discreetly before continuing his last words.

"Allllllll Right! That's it, get out there an w-"

He was interrupted by a certain boy with glasses and a strict sense of order.

"_Oh, for fuck's sake…"_ a discerning peroxide boy thought, tapping his foot rhythmically. He already had the idea that'd he come up on top, no doubt. He was just here to seal the deal and work. The last thing he wanted was a hindrance; an annoying hindrance.

"Pardon me, Mr Present Mic and correct me if I'm wrong!"

"Just 'Present Mic' is fine!"

"It has come to my attention that there seems to be an error on the pamphlet! You stated that there were only three villain robots to defeat but there are for on here. For the prestigious school of UA to make such a careless mistake, why, it's embarrassing!"

"That was useless to add, but he's right now that I look at the paper…" a random kid with blue hair said to a friend of his. His friend nodded to this.

"You're sharp, boy!" Present Mic pointed to the boy with the glasses beaming. "There's no error, I just didn't tell you. The fourth robot holds zero points but is the most difficult to defeat.."

Confused expressions were shown around the auditorium.

A student put their hand up.

"No more questions! Just go, go, go and grab your ticket to heroism!"

Everyone but one boy was confused. In confusion, they just sat and stared at each other, thinking that this Present Mic must be an infiltrator messing with them. This one boy ran at the speed of light through the open doors, stunning everyone there - even Present Mic. An explosive boy wasn't having this and so stood up as well.

"What're waiting for?! GO!" Present shouted pointing at the doors. Immediately all the students ran to the doors in a hurry.

"They're finally out." Aizawa said in a bland tone.

Izuku ran at the larger robots before everyone else and at unbelievable speed as well. He was nimble and powerful with his kicks. He punched the head of the robots and removed some wires to finish it off, gaining points as he did so. He violently but efficiently roundhouse kicked, Axe kicked, Crescent kicked and ultimately obliterated the power out of all the robots he encountered. He imagined each and every one of those robots to be something he hated and worried over. Eliminating them, he cleared his mind and in this process he became faster. Everyone was now battling against Izuku, trying to get their hands on the 3-pointers before him. He was the top here, he was at the top of an invisible hierarchy. But...it was almost graceful the way he kicked. He did no less and no more than was needed. He didn't show off, he didn't hurt or rival anybody, it was like a ballerina living in that moment. A dance for that one lifetime. It was something much more, now. This was the key that would unlock the door to the end of the Oath. But this was just the beginning.

"_This will surely end quickly."_ He thought as he jumped a-many-hundred metres into the air and obliterated one robot._ "A pattern of me destroying these mechanical entities. They are grey, they are dead before I even kill them. This is what Stain has taught me: With you, they are dead before you kill them." _Izuku's hair swayed and violently danced in the midst of the wind pressure around him, as he punched a smaller robot._ "Fight with this mind, Izuku, and you will meet your divine rest before you know it. Smile with these things. Stay neutral and be dopey as you were at birth."_

It was at this point that all three of the heroes and all the participants present were in frozen awe of this strange boy. The boy who effortlessly defeated these giant villains. Who single-handedly defeated all those that were seen as impossible to defeat.

Nezu stood up when he saw who was causing this disturbance and when he saw who it was, a vibration erupted within him.

"Toshinori, you said that the boy you dismissed had white skin, white eyes and white hair, right?" Nezu said in a voice of disbelief.

"Yes...? What of it?" he replied.

Nezu gulped and half-smiled.

"Then you might want to see this."

All Might's heart stopped at the possibility...of…

"What on earth." he finally said, looking at how Izuku was saving a brown-haired girl from the colossal 0-pointer. It would take even an average hero a long time to defeat a robot of that stature.

"But.."

Izuku carefully placed the girl down with a reassuring smile as he directed an old lady to aid the girl.

"He...he's quirkless…, this is what he told me!"

Horrifyingly, Izuku's expression suddenly changed as it looked like he was staring right at the room that All Might was in. A lot of the guilt came rushing back to him and his shoulders began to ache. Though All Might was up in the room, protected by bulletproof glass, he still felt scared and cold. Like it was just him and Izuku in the world. It was unfair - for the both of them. They both had suffered inexpressible pain, more than anyone else. Izuku stared at All Might from where he stood, did he still recognise him, skinny as he was?

"_It makes no difference to me, All Might. When somebody erupts a feeling inside of you, whether they reincarnate into a fish or a flower, you will always recognize them. I will recognise you, no matter what form you take."_ Izuku said in his head with a grimace that reeked of jealously and hate. He quickly turned away and smiled in a carefree way, like his heads were in the clouds and nothing bothered him.

"_You can smile like that, too, huh. You don't know how to smile, so you put on a mask and maintain it for however long. A pretty flower to hide the scent of a dying corpse. You will never know the sensation of bearing a dove mind. You are a herald - the Herald."_

And whose thoughts were these?

* * *

Bakugou, the blonde boy with a heart filled with anger and rage, was out to find the one who looked to be _that kid. _

He stomped and stomped and went to look for him.

But to do what?_ This person, Izuku or not, was stronger than you, you petty prick. Get over yourself. What were you to do about it? Cry?_

"_Nobody is above me. Nobody will or has won over me. Especially a quirkless little shit who thinks he owns the place. Just you wait…"_ Bakugou thought. He then thought about it. If this person, whoever he was, really was Izuku, where would he be right now? Where would he be…

Bakugou found himself outside somehow and looked around. The wind was picking up and he saw the landscape. From the floor sprung pink lilies and yellow daffodils, from the sky flew birds of every feather, from his standing he saw people living calmly and in the own worlds.

His eyes found Izuku. Ah…

This guy, what's up with him? He looked a little taller, stronger; his muscles were almost seen through his black gakuran. His hair grew a bit, his eyes and hair were as white as the rage that suddenly flared up within him.

He ran towards Izuku and tackled him to the ground.

"_Why doesn't this bastard look surprised, or even scared? Who do you think you are?"_ Bakugou thought in rage.

"Why are you here? Are you not only blind, but deaf too?! I told you not to come here? You're Deku, aren't ya? You piece of shit..!" Bakugou was about to right hook Izuku there and then with an explosion, for the sake of old times, but Izuku swiftfully blocked it with his hand and threw him across the grass.

"I knew you'd be here, but who knew you'd be so bold as to strike me on our first encounter in, what, 6 months? I am not here for you. I'm not going to wait for you either-"

"How dare-"

Izuku suddenly spoke with a frightening, cold tone as he walked away.

"I have things to do and I will not have anything or anybody get in my way."

This just left Bakugou alone, sitting on the grass as nothing changed around him. The flowers were still there, the sky was still blue, the clouds were still moving on and the town was still calm. Stating the obvious like this, what was he expecting to change? A small ball of anger in the same frame of something so much bigger. Nobody would see it coming. A brawling hate intertwined with this sea of tranquility. Had nothing really changed? For what reason had things turned out as they did?

Tied upon olive leaves and red curtains, sat at the right hand of the Father.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter nine - **_Apothecary's Theory on Truth_

Trusting wherever his feet would take him, Izuku was making his way back to Stain. Recognising the meandering paths and seeing the twists and turns of the roads, he made no effort to tread quietly on the wet ground. Finally, he returned to that familiar abandoned, greying building. When Izuku opened the large double doors, he noticed that Stain was not there. He stopped in his tracks and felt some strange presence clothing the entire complex. Something was indeed here.

Izuku turned around and stepped back outside and looked up to a sky-high roof to see Stain sitting atop there.

"_Typical."_ Izuku thought to himself. Stain jumped from the tremendous height with ease and stood a little distance away from Izuku.

"Do you think you look cool or something? Jumping from places like that. Isn't that reckless?" Izuku said with his hands interlocked behind his back and his head cocked to the side.

"No - I feel more secure when I get a bird's eye view of everything. The higher I am, the harder it is to capture me and the more I can observe undetected." he said with venom. He then stabbed hard at his temple with his finger. "You know, for someone smart, you're pretty fuckin' dense."

Izuku said nothing and just stretched his arms and shut his eyes. Stain walked into the building and Izuku followed behind him talking.

"We had to destroy robots and earn points." Izuku said removing his shoes and bending back his toes in a grotesque manner.

"I know."

There was a pause. Izuku's brows were furrowed as he slowly turned to look at the villain near him.

As if to answer the unasked question, Stain continued.

"I was standing on top of the building nearby. I saw basically everything. I gotta say," Stain said swiging some alcohol. "The people at that school? I saw absolutely no flow in their movements. I can't understand why that school is said to be so good when they-"

Stain was stopped in his speech when he saw Izuku expressionless face look towards the floor as he stretched a little move. It wasn't that he was uninterested, he could tell, but Izuku looked as though whatever Stain said about UA would not affect his decision on applying for the school.

He altered the topic.

"How was the exam? For you personally, I mean."

Izuku finally got up and jumped up and down before standing still to answer the question.

"It was… an experience. I mean, the test was alright I guess…" The pearl boy said with a half-smile. That half-smile suddenly transformed when he went on. "But I did see something interesting. Somebody, actually. It in fact insinuated a strange feeling within me…It was a weird thing."

"That so?" Stain said vacantly.

"_How can you say something like that with such an unhappy expression on your face?"_ he thought to himself. For Izuku, the one who seemed to never show his genuine self to many people, the one that was always in some kind of daze, the one that followed a path… for him to say something like that and have an unmatched expression was definitely odd.

He walked on a path and never seemed astray. Astray, was to follow the path. Of what number of paths?

As rapid as the wind, Stain whipped his leg up to strike a powerful blow to Izuku. This was completely out of the blue, but nonetheless Izuku blocks the attack swiftly and calmly and smiles softly with no malintent it seems.

"Oho?" Stain said with a smirk and his fist rested on his cheek. He quickly retracted his leg and squatted. For some reason, the red man called Stain, whom was equipped to the teeth in weaponry, wasn't in the mood for Izuku to be so blank and defenceless. He wasn't having it for a weird reason, but he wasn't being childish. Another thing, another component, perhaps was encouraging this.

To wind him up was what he wanted to do, pluck a string if you will!

"And what will you do if you are accepted into the school, kid? Is it worth all this trouble? Hell, I mean...If that's what you really want?"

Without warning, Izuku's ambience changed. A silvery glare that hovered above Stain and a bilious simper was what struck a chord within the villain. A quiet rattling coming from nowhere but everywhere - it was the boy's doing.

"I've told you, haven't I? I'm fate's herald. I can finally bear the stones which were made for me to hold. I have no choice in this."

A silence that seemed to drag for hours was thrown onto the two after this change in atmosphere. Stain didn't feel threatened. He was 'blood red' wasn't he? There was no need to shake or to feel afraid. Just be cautious, there's almost more than what people let on. That was probably why he saw this side of Izuku the way he did.

Izuku reverted back to his usual self and sipped some water as if nothing had changed at all. Stain could not lie to himself for his pride, he hated people like that, so he told himself the truth. Fear or not, he did feel a somewhat cold sensation well up within him. If this was what they called killing intent, the raw more crude version of intent, should he really be encouraging this? He of course didn't care who the kid hurt, if that was his goal, but something like this? It was as if, pray, this was worse than killing intent.

Simply because you would not expect it and it was dangerously effective.

"...let's train." Stain said finally.

"Yeah."

* * *

Gathered around the conference table, the teachers and former heroes of U.A were to discuss the happenings of the entrance exam. Each hero was handed the pamphlet of the rules and pointing system that the students had to follow in order to pass the exam. There was also a booklet on the students that did pass the entrance exam. They scanned through it and conversed about which students should go into which class and which ones were not getting into the school regardless of their score.

"If you'd all look towards the screen…" Principal Nezu said as he fiddled with the remote. With the click of a button, a variety of students were shown one by one on the screen, fighting with everything they had to destroy the robots. Each student, different as a fingerprint, has a unique way of fighting; the heroes recognised this. Some techniques were efficient, some were flashy and some were reckless. People that fell into those three categories all scored a sum of points and some were successful in whatever they were trying to accomplish, and the heroes praised them for that.

Nevertheless, there would always be the group of exceptional students that stood out. There would sometimes be a group of students that tried their best to reach their goal. There would rarely be a group of students that were all three: efficient, flashy and reckless.

Effort alone would not be enough to pass the exam though. Sheer strength didn't make up 100% of a hero. Rescue point were also significant.

This was when 'Midoriya Izuku' was put on screen.

It was different. This time it was different. A skill range that none of the heroes had ever seen in a hero, let alone a student. The way he fought was mature and it was fresh and it left no space for error or mistake. Each step, each slash ti slice, each strike and blow all seemed to make sense when Izuku kicked and punched the bolts out of the robots. Nothing was unnecessary and he fought like he never would again. With the other students' videos, the teacher would nod and clap and praise the students accordingly; they'd express their emotions and take notes. Izuku's case was a different case. The heroes themselves resembled robots at that moment, for their movements, if any, were mechanical and forced. Indeed, they had to force themselves to move as they normally would so as to not worry the people around them or worry themselves.

As the images flickered and the video played, All Might's skin appeared to be greying. A point in time when the boy Izuku and he, the hero All Might, were aligned somewhere talking panged into his memory painfully. The invisible dejection on Izuku's face, the freeing wind of the sky that hit both of their faces when they flew that day. The realisation that he'd broken a kid's dreams…

"_Ah, but he is doing fine in the video. Look."_ he told himself. He thought this but he knew that what he had said to him that day had changed something within him. Sure, he was strong and capable. But a switch of something flipped and changed. Amongst one hundred lights, one had just turned off.

Just what have you done, Toshinori Yagi?

The video eventually ended and heroes like Present Mic and Midnight were beyond impressed.

"Midoriya Izuku, huh. He was on a totally other level! Who trained him like that?" Present Mic commended as he pulled on his moustache.

"What was his quirk again?" Midnight asked. Nezu looked up with confidence.

"He is quirkless."

Multiple teachers laughed at this, while others could simply not believe what they were hearing. Aizawa discreetly looked over to All Might who was massaging his temples to calm down and not explode.

"But...but how..?" a hero in blue commented. "Did you not see the height at which he jumped? That would be hard even for me?"

"What's more, he saved that Miss Ochaco from the enormous robot. The robot was colossal… I simply can't believe it." Midnight said.

Other heroes chimed in. The chattering surrounding the boy - it was incredibly annoying. They were all like little flies surrounding the pigs head. They should really shut up about this. They don't know what they're saying - they're misinformed! Why are they doubting the quirkless? They had no right to do that. They see someone strong with no quirk and suddenly this happens.

Why are they so unbelieving? Why are they so skeptical?

This was what All Might was thinking, these are the waters that flooded his mind. But who was he to judge the ignorant heroes when he was one of them until not long ago. All Might, do tell me, was it not you who doubted him? It was you who denied him a dream, was it not? Unfallen tears took refuge in his face because of what you said.

"I don't see what you cannot understand!" All Might booms in a fit of anger as he slaps the table. "It is not impossible to be this strong with no quirk, he did this on his own! Believe it and do not look down upon the quirkless!"

Silence fell upon the entirety of the people that sat at the table. He had spoken and he was heard. It was almost impossible not to hear him. And not just by ear, but even in the heart. Everyone's hearts seemed to just widen a little to try and understand the rage that All Might was emitting through his words. Just what had happened to him for him to defend the quirkless in such a state?

All Might had soon realised what he had done and returned to his seat. In the heat of the moment, his true feelings were exposed for others to see. The silence was unbreakable, incurable-

"What All Might is trying to convey is that we shouldn't judge a person based on whether they are quirkless or not. To do that would mean to revoke the right of being a hero, no?"

Many _aah's_ and _I see's_ were spoken across the room. They finally understood all but a fraction of what All Might was feeling. Nobody but Izuku would understand completely what All Might was experiencing. Unfortunately, nobody would understand what Izuku was feeling all the same.

An hour had passed and All Might's strange outburst was forgotten by most. The meeting continued as usual and certain students were hand picked to enroll in the school. Once everyone was happy with what had been said, the assembly had ultimately come to a close.

"You are all dismissed. Thank you for gathering here today." Nezu said kindly with a smile. All But three heroes stayed behind for whatever reason: Aizawa, All Might and Nezu. The small creature walked over to his desk to organise his papers while the bandaged hero sat to go over his notes once more.

All Might was still in some kind of unique shock from everything. He was becoming more frail and feeble mentally - withstanding so much emotion in such a short span of time was horrific for him.

"_I am so sorry, Midoriya. If I could die a thousand deaths to purge this sin of mine…"_ All Might repeated to himself. _"Was it me who hurt you so much that you should dance so absently?"_

Aizawa looked toward his famous colleague and could see the emotional toll this was taking on him. Of course, all the pain he caused Izuku was unintentional, but this was inexcusable. But then again he did become emotional over him earlier…

"_I should just leave it."_ he thought as he was approaching the door. But why did doing this hurt him so much? Why did it feel wrong to leave things as they were like this?

As Aizawa spoke, his eyes were darker than usual and his words poked at All Might all the more.

"I don't know what you've done to that kid. Yet, whatever you did clicked something within him. You can see it in his eyes - to the point of no return."

And with that, Aizawa left the room.

"Am I selfish to take your words as a teaching, Aizawa?" All Might whispered, staring at his hands. Aizawa tended to say the strangest things at the most appropriate times. Everything that man seemed to say to him stuck with him like glue. A man of few words.

Still, the clouds of disorientation swarmed in his mind and the birds of realisation flew around more than usual. The birds would often ponder alone, but now they were gathering as a group. They were learning to fly in unison. Even so - where were the canisters of hope?

Stuck in the mud of his own thoughts, he barely noticed anything around him move. As if he was still the moving fetus enveloped in the amniotic fluid of deafness, a maternal voice was speaking and struck him like a kick.

"Don't think too much."

…

Id est.

* * *

He was so angry he couldn't speak. His fury overtook him so much his jaw began to ache. The sheep had overtaken him. The weak kid who should eb rotting dead in a ditch is alive and strong. How did he get so strong? Why didn't he come to school for so long? Answer these questions, anybody. Bakugou was fuming, he demanded answers. He demanded respect.

A replay of a fighting Izuku and a replay of what Izuku had said were merging together into an ugly ball. I mean, how dare he speak to someone of Bakugou's status like that?

"_What status?"_ a voice that sounded strikingly familiar said in his head. Oh, yeah - this wasn't middle school anymore. Nobody was bound to the hierarchy of status and popularity like middle school.

Hm, but, no… yes they were. This was why everything was crumbling in the world right?

Bakugou was on his way, very upset, though he wouldn't admit it. Was the world upside down? The Izuku he knew was nowhere near that strong.

"_That Deku was NEVER strong to begin with, right? So what is this shit?" _Bakugou thought stupidly. Was he perhaps training? But why? For what and for who?

Bakugou despised questions with all his heart. From a young age he hated not knowing what he wanted to know. He hated not being given what he thought he deserved.

He hated not being given the world. One might call him spoiled, but you'd be surprised! His mind a book with a most powerful pen and set alight by the flames of his anger. The papers of his mind easily flammable and incredible. Izuku, an ink blot.

Bakugou's mind was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he almost didn't notice someone approaching him.

This man of pale-yellow skin and height, this man of presence, he stood still at once and stared at the explosive boy. The evening's breeze was cold as ever, and this man, upon his arrival, acted as if he were a limb of the wind itself. His hair was a very dark hue of turquoise, yet his eyebrows were completely white, like frosty thread spun only in the winter. By now, Bakugou was on his guard of course and under usual circumstances, he would have blasted this man to ashes for staring so rudely. But what got him was his eyes. He had never seen eyes such as his. Dark as a crow's feather, yet bright as the north star, still dull as a circle and sharp as Juliet's blade.

It was mesmerising and it was terrifying.

Bakugou should have destroyed him by now. But these eyes...Jamais vu.

The man that walked with the wind wore a doctor's white coat. Within those pockets were his hands.

He blinked and this knocked Bakugou back into reality. His ordinary belligerent nature returned to him immediately, though he was still wary.

"What is it? What're you lookin' at? Mind your business, whoever you are." he spat.

"That's no way a hero should talk now, is it." the man replied. It was inexplainably infuriating how calm the man spoke. The wind seemed not to dim his words, his words were flat and elegant and calming to a fault. It was like he was speaking to everyone but no one. His words weren't overwhelming but he spoke with such power.

"_Is this guy an alien? What's up with him?"_ Bakugou thought, and continued to speak.

"Hah?! And what do you know about being a hero?"

A moment of silence occurs, a chilling one. It seems as though words would, if anything, taint the man.

"_Answer me, damn it." _ Bakugou thinks, irritated. For some reason, he couldn't bring himself to speak. His mouth wouldn't open and words refused to leave his mouth.

It was as Bakugou's dilemma continued that this man flicks his head northward and begins to hum a little melody of his own as he walks away, leaving the blonde boy in a puzzled state.

The man thinks, _"That is good, boy. This is good. Follow the flow of the river, enthral yourself to the ways of Him. This is how it should be. Do not waver or change for that is against ******** ***."_


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten - **_Lotus that Sang_

"So, kid."

A small hum and a glance was the reply Stain got, so he carried on speaking.

"Believe it or not, I could see that you had some form of potential, so I thought ahead…" Stain grumbled as he sheathed a sword of his ever so carefully. "If you were gonna get this letter of acceptance to UA, they'd need to send it off somewhere, and I, being the Hero Killer, am not prepared for my living quarters to be ransacked by some scummy heroes."

Izuku chuckled and looked around in defame. "You call these living quarters?"

Stain growled and glared at Izuku.

Izuku tilted his head and stifled his smile, "Go on, go on."

The Hero Killer paused before continuing.

"Because of these reasons, I put the address as something else on the application paper. There's a tall hotel 'round near here - you know the one I mean right? You can't miss it. I put the address there, so today go and check if the letter has come through yet."

Izuku nodded and agreed that what Stain did was logical but thought to tease him a little more. He jumped up smoothly and walked towards the exit of these 'living quarters' wearing a large grey hoodie and black trousers with red sneakers. With a great deal of sparkle and mischief in his eyes and a grin lain on his lips. He spoke.

"This was awfully nice of you, Mr. Stain." Izuku said with dramatic sarcasm. "Maybe I'll start calling you dad, or something."

Stain flinched at that word and his bloodlust rose greatly, but Izuku had already done the damage and was out the door. Thus, leaving Stain alone and Izuku's irritating words lingering in the air. He hatefully clenched his fists and held onto a sword, thinking about who he would purge soon.

"This wasn't for you, it wasn't for you." Stain said, reading through a list of hero names. "Don't get ahead of yourself."

With a smug look on his face and his hair a mess, Izuku inwardly laughed at the way Stain reacted and how he loved to wind people up sometimes.

"_Maybe I'll call you dad..!"_ Izuku mimicked in his head. Izuku thought his eyes would pop out, he couldn't hold it in any longer! A large, hearty laugh escaped his lungs and lips as he walked down the street, getting several glances. He covered his mouth to minimise the severity of his laugh, though it didn't do much. But what was so funny? What was it that tickled him so?

"Stain, you really are so silly! Haha, how could I call you dad? I don't know what a dad is like!" Izuku said aloud in a high-pitched giggle. He eventually reached the hotel and he wiped his eyes and became serious again. It was really quite freaky how quickly and solidly Izuku could change his persona on the outside. Was it not the Izuku those people recently saw laughing and struggling to breathe that was now as solemn as the grave?

Izuku walked on the soft, bouncy carpet and saw the perfectly painted walls and the beautifully crafted chairs and tables. The carpet was a shade of purple identical to fine wine and the walls were a delicate cream colour, and to complement it all, the furniture's exterior looked to be gold and their cushions red. The building was aesthetically pleasing but why was a neat looking place like this in the middle of a city with places like Stain's house?

Izuku shook his head and walked forward to the front desk. There, he was met face-to-face with a lady. This lady stood slender and polite with a perfect smile. Her hair was long and brown with little waves peeking in here and there. Her eyes were shocking, one would have thought they'd go blind with the sheer rays of gold. Golden stars fitted with sight in the head of this lady. She smiled in a friendly way as she looked at Izuku's small figure at the desk.

Yes, she was very pretty, but Izuku cared not. He maintained the careless expression on his face and looked at her.

"Goodness, are you lost, boy? Looking for your parents?" she said warmly.

Izuku replied in a cold, robotic manner. "Have you received a letter from UA?"

At his tone of speech, the lady was taken aback. She observed him. His fixed, white eyes and his messy white hair and casual attire. He looked fine enough, normal enough, but he didn't look _fine. _Why did he look so serious? What was there to be so serious about at his tender age? He had probably gotten in a fight, or was upset. Yeah, that was often the issue so she stuck with that mentality for a while...

Disrupting her thoughts and concern came rushing Izuku's sigh. Immediately, he smiled sweetly and kindly enough that she'd stop staring at him the way she did. It made him feel weird, like some kind of creature or some kind of science experiment. His eyes didn't change, but the smile was sufficient enough, speaking from a superficial point of view.

Izuku repeated himself. He was extremely impatient.

"Have you received any letters from UA, as of recently? Miss..Miss.."

"Miss Yashiko - may I ask for your name?"

"Midoriya Izuku."

The lady smiled again, nodding this time, and put her hand on his back to lead him elsewhere in the hotel. She asked her co-worker to take over for her for the moment before leaving to the letter room.

Izuku's back, a cold unbreaking temple that didn't waver even in the midst of the ticklish green grass. The temple, whom was well acquainted with the hostility of the cold was touched; but ever so mildly. A mild touch, was this, that affected him heavily. A mild touch from her, the sun, whose heat spread throughout the temple like wildfire. Nay, for wildfire is too wild in nature, so the heat spread evenly and warmly and was extremely bearable. He, the temple, felt this and followed her, remaining stoic.

"_She smells nice."_ he thought. It was a very feminine scent, a fragile scent. A scent that would break if used for too long but she somehow had the fume stick to her and it made her seem so much lovelier. Her voice was soft and calm but firm as well. She was professional, she was tall and she was welcoming.

A very fitting job, Izuku found this to be very satisfying.

"Here we are, Midoriya. And...here's your.." she was rummaging through other letters to find his. "Letter! Oh - and it came with a uniform too.."

He took it from her and bowed as he proceeded to head back. But not before he was tapped lightly on the shoulder.

"Pardon me if I seem to be meddling but, where are you from? Your hair, eyes, and skin are simply gorgeous!"

Izuku's eyes widen in surprise as he rubs his neck, embarrassed. He'd never been complimented on the said places - only ridiculed, not that it bothered him. Izuku hadn't really dwelled on these features of his too much, they became normal. But not to this lady, who called him 'gorgeous'. He had never been called such a word before.

Izuku's face tightened.

"My hair is a genetic mutation, it should have been dark green like my mother's. And as for my eyes, I'm blind." Izuku bowed and left the building.

The door shut, alarming the little bell atop of the door. The people of the hotel and the people outside were bustling as usual. But not the lady, she could not believe what she was hearing. How was he blind? He gazed at her, did he not? He walked completely normal, did he not? He looked elsewhere, embarrassed? What of this?

How could the boy be blind when he carried such a sad expression in them? His fake smiles were not fooling her. Her daily life consisted of smiling at people she might or mightn't of wanted to, she could tell when the smile was not genuine.

"Midoriya Izuku… Don't be so plastic with me. Smile, for real next time."

He looked to see and he sought to look, neither of both granted.

Izuku got back after about five minutes and saw Stain moving at the speed of light with his katana. It was often magical watching him move so fluidly with the sword, it was like the sword was a part of his body. There was no hesitation and no regret when he held the sword. Izuku looked up to him in that aspect. It must have been nice not to hesitate and get the job done.

Nonetheless, Izuku walked towards a hanger to hang his hoodie and he removed his chunky shoes. Izuku read out the letter that he had gotten in full with no stops. Stain listened in until he had finally stopped speaking. Izuku knew that this hero training was his duty, his mission. Intertwining your mission and your emotion was something he looked to avoid and prohibit but...he couldn't help it this time. He smiled, a small but real smile. He was happy that he got into UA, the highest of the high when it came down to hero schools. It was something he was actually proud of. That little boy of yesterday was gone, he was getting stronger and it showed.

Just this once, could he smile, just this once. It was a very freeing feeling.

Izuku hid his little grin but Stain saw it clearly and, while he hated to admit it, it made him feel something inside.

"_So, even you can make a face like that, huh, kid."_ he thought. He continued swinging the sword, not facing Izuku. Izuku swiftfully changed out of his clothes to put on the uniform given to him.

"So, when's this happening?" Stain said as he turned around but he raised a brow at Izuku's attire. "Wow, lookie here, a hero student of the prestigious UA High School is staying at my humble abode."

"Shut up." Izuku said scornfully. "Today, at XX:XXam"

"You've got to be shitting me.." Stain whispered in anger as he almost broke his own sword handle. He spoke louder for Izuku to hear, "You'd better hurry and go."

Izuku playfully salutes Stain with his index and middle finger and held a plain expression now taking over his face. Izuku walks out of the building after putting his shoes back on running to get to the school quickly. He ran past everyone as fast as he could, catching every train and bus he could to get to his destination. It was kind of funny, as he ran and ran he saw different kinds of birds and a variety of flowers on his way, even the types of people changed. The scenery became somewhat 'brighter' and more vivid as he got closer to the school. The closer he got, the larger and stronger and heavier the feeling of power became in him. He felt like he'd explode with excitement at any second, the power needed to be vented from somewhere.

This was it! Izuku had finally reached UA High School, the number one hero school in all of Japan. Izuku had an idea of who the teachers would be and how each of them acted - this wasn't a shot in the dark, he had to get it right the first time.

"This is where it will all start. I can relieve the oath." Izuku said to himself as he walked into the school. He felt so weird and this burning power was getting stronger within him. He wasn't nervous like how you'd expect a new high schooler to be. In fact, Izuku was completely tranquil. He had that same relaxed expression on his face as he did in middle school - what had changed over the years for things like this to happen?

He walked into the building and looked around for class 1-A with his hands in his pockets and lazy glances looking for the door of his classroom. As he walked through the hallways, a number of students stared at him in belligerence and oddity and wonder. The way all the students they'd previously seen were all in some form 'nervous'... you'd be able to tell from their eyes or their posture or tone of voice. In short, they couldn't hold in their fear and anxiety. But this one...this ivory anomaly...who did he think he was? Where was his edginess? Where was the angst, the shaking legs and the quivering mouth? Right now, he was walking like a third year - like he'd seen it all.

"Why is that walking around like he owns the place?" a girl a little shorter than him said to her friends.

"Yeah, he is being a little too arrogant.." replied her first friend with orange stripes.

"Tch, how much d'you wanna bet that he's in the hero course?" replied the second friend, who's hair was pink. The three friends laughed and walked away. Izuku heard them loud and clear thanks to Stain - he taught him how to heighten his senses. Their words didn't hurt Izuku one bit, not even a little because he'd been through worse and heard much worse. Arrogance? Where was this to be found? Not within him, this was a fact. The last thing Izuku wanted to be was arrogant as that ended up being his downfall and why he had ended up in this situation.

He found class 1-A's door and could hear happy chatter, laughter and arguments coming from within the classroom. Izuku put his hand on the handle of the large door and walked in, only to have the classroom go silent. The minute he walked in, eyes were following his every move, even as he sat down. He calmly looked around the class and saw it was quite normal, it was your standard classroom. But the people around him were actually extraordinary. People of different heights and quirks and strengths he guessed, they all seemed to have strong personalities. They looked like alright people. They all looked to be green.

But making friends was not the reason he was here, he was there to become stronger and become a hero. This was what he was destined to do and he took it very seriously. He would crush whoever got in his way.

Suddenly, Izuku saw that same bright shade of green coming from next to him.

Could it really be…?

"_My, my, my. We are sitting near each other again. I'm not sure what to make of this."_ Izuku thought to himself. He ignored the strange furious expression he was probably making and face forward and let off a little smile. The people around him recognised him, including a brown-haired girl.

Coming from nowhere appeared a boy with red hair and a scar on his eyebrow.

"Woah, aren't you the kid who defeated that 0-pointer? It was..so manly..!" said the passionate boy. "Nice to meet ya! I'm Kirishima Eijirou!"

"Dude, don't hog him all for yourself. I'm Kaminari and yeah you were really strong…"

"Thank you, Kaminari and Kirishima." replied Izuku dryly but politely. The girl he saved appeared as well and was looking a little red.

"_Why is she so red...is she sick?"_ Izuku thought in curiosity. She nervously stepped forward and smiled then bowed.

"T-T-Thank y-you so much for saving me that day… what's your name? I'm Uraraka!" She introduced herself joyfully.

"Uraraka, you're fine right now, that's what is important. I'm Midoriya Izuku. Nice to meet you all." he said collectively. He had been shaded from society so much that it became exhausting to speak to so many people at once. Why did they feel the need to talk to him so up close? Why did they smile so much, it looked very tiring.

"Dude, what's your quirk? Ah - I'm Sero." a black-hair boy said to Izuku.

"The bastard doesn't have a quirk. He's quirkless." Bakugou said out of nowhere with eyes of hate beaming at Izuku. Everyone was confused at what he said and saw that Bakugou didn't like this new kid very much.

"Uhm, Bakugou, that isn't funny…"

"Yeah.."

Izuku yawned and looked at all of the greens standing before him and couldn't help but smirk.

"It is true, I am quirkless. And?"

Izuku at once became a little frightening and intimidating with the way he spoke and the smirk attached to his face. It was a look that clearly said 'if you don't like it, do something about it'. He wasn't going to be pushed around like before. That would slow him down.

Before anymore could be said, their homeroom teacher walked in.

"Everyone, get into your designated seats and calm down. This isn't a place for chatting and having fun, and if you disagree, you know where the door is." he said strictly in a drowsy manner. Everyone sat down and listened to what their teacher had to say. He was tall and had long black wavy hair that covered his sleepy-looking eyes. He had a stubble and wore all black with his signature white scarf.

Izuku knew straight away who this was, and so did the teacher apparently, because of the way he kept looking at Izuku. Izuku couldn't tell why or what kind of expression this teacher was making, but he was green and his silhouette was recognisable. Not only that, but he could feel his eyes on him.

"_So, this is the kid up close. Well, I'm not too sure what I was expecting to see; an apparition? A god? He doesn't look particularly strong but he does look very...dead set on something. I can tell, I've seen eyes like those before." _Aizawa thought to himself. Aizawa ignored this thought and carried on the introduction as usual.

"Alright, I'm the Hero Eraser Head and I will be your homeroom teacher. My name is Aizawa Shota, so call me 'Mr Aizawa'." Aizawa briefly projected. He then pointed towards the door. "Outside of that door is where you will find your PE uniform in which you will do your quirk apprehension test. While I, and my colleagues, know the basics of your quirk, we'd like to assess you properly and find your weaknesses and strengths. Quickly change and line up outside the door."

And with that, he opened the door to let the students of 1-A through. When it was Izuku's turn to walk through, Aizawa got a small chill, it made him very uncomfortable. It was a chill that felt like you were being watched, or like a never-melting ice cube sliding down your back, maybe even something worse. He just felt that when Izuku walked past him and decided it must have been his mind playing tricks on him.

"_Getting chills from a child is beneath me."_ he thought, waiting outside of the classroom.

The class was soon ready to begin their test, so they walked outside following their teacher. There was a large field with trees and bushes surrounding the area and the weather wasn't too bad. This was ideal and it was pleasant.

With everyone facing Aizawa now, he took his chance to talk and explain what they'd be doing.

"This all consists of eight fitness tests that will involve your quirk and how you use it. There's the 50-metre dash, Grip strength, Standing Long Jump, Repeated side steps, ball throw, distance run, seated toe-touch and sit ups." he informed. "I will expel the person in last place, as I believe they have no potential."

The class gasped in horror at the word 'expel'.

"Tsuyu, surely, he can't do that?" An invisible girl said.

"He seems scary so he probably can, Hagakure-chan." replied Tsuyu.

Aizawa looked around with a mean glare in his eyes. "I trust there are no issues or questions?"

For a moment, there was silence and stillness but then someone did raise their hand.

Somebody who was in a bad-mood.

"And what if the person is quirkless, hah? That means they should be kicked out right now, right?" A fiery Bakugou growled, eyeing up Izuku who looked unfazed. His fellow students suddenly realised that what Bakugou said might actually be true because how could someone with no quirk do a _Quirk_ apprehension test? Because of what Bakugou said, the class was confused and it raised the question…

Why did Izuku get into UA at all? Seemed like a lost cause.

"_See, Deku? Nobody wants you here, you don't belong here, so scram."_ Bakugou thought. Surprisingly, Aizawa undertook and sour expression on his face when he heard what the explosive student had to say.

"Please think before you speak. How do you think Midoriya got into UA in the first place? Because he was strong - in fact, for him to get into UA, he must have been strong enough to compete one-on-one with quirk wielders. I don't know about you, but if a quirkless person can compete with people with quirks, I'd say it speaks volumes." Replied Aizawa with a shrug.

Bakugou was speechless and felt humiliated. He looked back to Izuku to see what his response to this was and to his surprise, he smiled at Bakugou. This infuriated him even more. For Izuku to smile so stupidly like that must mean he's being looked down on, right? There was no other explanation for this. His blood began to boil and he felt extreme tetchiness well up within him.

Oh, if he could punch right now…

"Alright, first we have the ball thro-"

Bakugou cut his teacher off. The class was shocked at the sudden rudeness, Izuku expected this to happen at some point.

"Bakugou, seriously…" Kirishima whispered while shaking his head.

"Mr Aizawa, I'm goin' first. I'm frankly very angry right now, so if you'd excuse me."

Aizawa was about to reprimand him but then he thought about it.

"_Anger is often the catalyst to great strength, why not."_ he thought. Aizawa gave Bakugou the okay and handed him the orange ball. When he threw it, you could almost hear a whistling sound come from the ball. After the whistle of the ball, a large impact of explosion arose after. This was the large force pushing the ball up so fast and high.

"Woah…" said a student with thick lips.

"That... was actually very far." Izuku admitted. Aizawa nodded at what Bakugou did and recorded that it covered a distance of…

"705.2 metres. Uraraka, you're next."

Uraraka took the ball and threw it with her quirk, Zero Gravity, causing the ball to keep going for eternity. Aizawa explained afterwards that to keep it fair, he would have Uraraka not be first place.

"Midoriya, you're next." Aizawa said handing Izuku the ball. Everyone was excited to see what Izuku could really do when it came to this so they all waited in anticipation. Bakugou side-eyed Izuku and wanted to see him become the last one on the charts.

He shouldn't be in the school anyway.

Izuku took the ball and rotated his shoulder clockwise and anticlockwise before inhaling and exhaling. He clutched the ball with both of his hands and walked a little bit forward, still inside his boundaries, and he powerfully catapulted the ball. It was almost like he would break the sound barrier. He made sure to put all his force into his hands and arms to push the ball forward.

Everyone present was stunned with gaping mouths and furrowed eyebrows. Was Izuku really quirkless? How did he manage to use so much strength? It was so miraculous and strange that within that small body of his, he had the power to throw the ball as far as Bakugou.

"_Is this thing broken..wait..huh?"_ Aizawa thought puzzled. _"What an enigma."_

"750 metres exactly. That is actually quite incredible." he told the class.

"But that's impossible" and "That's kinda freaky" and a little bit of "Dude, that's amazing" were the common things he heard being shouted from the class, but Bakugou and a certain heterochromic boy stayed silent. Their silence was for a reason unknown for now.

As the day went on, the other seven activities were completed and they were told to have lunch and other lessons as usual. The students befriended each other and mingled nicely as a class should and Izuku wasn't having too bad of a time. Bakugou tried his best to ignore Izuku and all the chaos he had created but the anger was so obvious in his face that it might start to affect other people's moods.

Aizawa reported to All Might, who was still too afraid to talk to Izuku, all he had seen and the chill he felt earlier. This made All Might both happy and sad. He was happy that Izuku seemed to get along well with most of his classmates but he was sad that he had no part in Izuku's happiness - he still needed to apologise face to face. But when would such a day come?

* * *

The day had ended and Izuku was now about to walk home, he was not as tired as he expected but all this socialising wore him out. It was seriously intense, how did the heroes do this all the time? It was no wonder Aizawa did not like being int he eyes of the public. Well, if he would be a hero, he'd have to do something about this disliking for the public.

"Izuku, let's walk home together! Iida can come with us too!" Uraraka said with a grin on her face.

"Uhm." Izuku forgot that he no longer lived where he used to, and that that house was probably being sold or something. He forgot that he now lived with a villain and that he could not risk the chance of the house getting exposed.

"Izuku..?"

"Midoriya, what's the problem?" Iida said in worry.

"_Shit."_ Izuku thought hard about what to say.

"I am not allowed to walk home with friends...bec-cause my father has trust issues…"

…

"_What in the world did I just say? Oh my God…" _Izuku thought right after he said it. Iida and Uraraka nodded their heads in understanding and walked off in the other direction, waving.

"Well, see you tomorrow then!" Uraraka said, Iida waved and bowed as the two of them left. Izuku clutched at his arms; in sadness and jealousy. Now that he had chosen this way of life, he couldn't do all those fun things high-schoolers did. He couldn't go home with friends or go out as freely. For a split second, Izuku wished he was someone else and that he wished he could do what he wanted but he quickly cursed himself for thinking so selfishly. It was because of his foolish life choices that his mother left him, though she said differently, and it was why he was left alone, abandoned. It was why a villain had to be the one to take him in and it was the reason why he was just so lost.

He rubbed his temples to calm down and prevent a self-implosion. He hadn't had one in a while because he was so busy, and he wanted to keep it that way.

He walked back home, alone as he always did. It always ended up like this. Always.

A red herring watched nearby, thinking to himself why the temple seemed so cold despite being acknowledged by two bright stars and the sun herself.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter eleven - **_A Plague called Hilarity_

The students had been previously told by their teacher, Mr Aizawa, that they had to prepare a certain attire. But not any ordinary attire, it was the attire that would define them as a person, it was like another layer to their body and it had to fit them properly - their Hero costumes. After a lot of fine tuning and tailoring, the students had been told to now change into their Hero costumes. When Izuku was told of this, he saw it coming, it was to be expected but it still irritated him. Couldn't he just wear his PE uniform? At this, Stain laughed at him and told him to do something about it.

So, that morning, Izuku decided it was best to ask a normal person, a _good_ person. The only good person he could think of that he thought was somewhat trustworthy was Miss Yashiko of the hotel. When she saw him walk into the hotel again, her face lit up and she straightened her uniform with a blush. She found him to be just adorable, no less amazing though. This small kid was going to be a hero, so she needed to assist him in any way that would seem fit. Izuku asked Yashiko what would a hero like himself need to wear, what would suit him.

At this, she giggled and replied, "How confident you must be, you talk as if you are already a hero!"

"Well of course, I might as well be. I'm strong and help people, aren't those qualifications? All I need is a hero costume."

"_So silly…"_ she thought with a soft expression on her face. _"Heroes have to make those they save and those they don't save smile. You might seem a little strange but you are right - you will be a hero, Izuku."_

Izuku had gotten to the hotel two hours beforehand, so he let this female host inform him thoroughly. From Izuku's point of view, she seemed quite excited to speak. I mean, her eyes were brighter than usual, her expressions didn't only stay on the spectrum of a smile, she was very articulate and just shined more in general.

She shined a gorgeous blue.

"Do you get it now, do you know who you want to be?"

"I knew from the start." he said sternly. Yashiko just smiled and ruffled his hair.

"Goodbye, Iku."

Izuku stopped in his tracks and looked at her in perplexion.

"What did you just call me? Have you forgotten my name already..?" he said with an eyebrow raised.

"_Iku. _It means 'Go!' remember? Your name is Izuku, so I called you Iku!" she said as she rubbed her neck nervously, hoping he'd understand as his face was as blank as ever. She suddenly looked a little serious as she turned her back to leave.

"You know, you told me you want to be the kind of hero to always be moving, always saving people no matter what. You told me you wanted to be able to see many people saved at once, by you. I...found that beautiful."

It was as if time had stopped for Izuku. A rush of people walked in between Yashiko and himself. Almost like a rough wind pushing them apart; at that moment he wanted to scream. That was what he was feeling for a millisecond. As the rough wind passed, he saw her fixed, plastic smile on display again, tending to her customers and getting the job done.

Did she need saving?

* * *

At school, him and his fellow classmates were told to change into their hero outfits. Why, you ask? Well, they were going to do a Battle trial. Explained by none other than their homeroom teacher, they were to be paired up and face another pair in the class. One pair would be the heroes and the other pair would be the villains. The heroes had to capture the payload that the villains were hiding in the building and defeat the villains within the given time limit.

This would all happen at Ground Beta and All Might would be attending it with them.

Walking side-by-side to their designated area, All Might stood large and sturdy like the hero he was next to his colleague, Aizawa. While All Might did a good job at keeping a smile on his face, it was quite easy to tell when he was in distress or nervous - Aizawa could tell something was affecting him, so he pried him.

"I still need to speak with Midoriya… I need to but I can never find the right moments." he said. "Everytime I have seen him or tried to talk with him, he either ignores me or asks me to move out of the way. He says it in this overly-polite tone, you know the one I'm talking about right? That one tone of voice that is so polite and sweet that it seems aggressive and hostile."

"That Midoriya, he does tend to be… quite cold. Like there's a cement block separating him from others. How about after this trial is over, you go talk to him? It irritates me when I see you twiddling your thumbs the way you do." Aizawa, scratching his stubble. All Might nodded.

The students walked with their friends, talking about what might await them at Ground Beta.

"I'm gonna be a great hero, I can tell! My smile is so bright as well." Hagakure said, pumped up. Tsuyu and Jirou nervously laughed and weakly nodded.

"We'll have to wait and see about that, Hagakure-chan…" Tsuyu said plainly. Kirishima slapped Bakugou on the back with excitement, much to Bakugou's displeasure.

"What was that for, you shitty-haired bastard?" Bakugou screamed, getting explosions in his hands. Kirishima flapped his hand in Bakugou's face as if to cool him down.

"Sorry, Bakugou! My bad, I'm just so excited to fight!" he said with a grin. Kaminari and Sero talked calmly behind their two hot-headed companions. Kirishima then put his arm around Bakugou. While he always did this in a friendly way, it seemed like he didn't want a specific person to hear.

"That Midoriya, what did he do to you? You seem overly mean to him, Bakugou."

Bakugou twitched at this and tried to push Kirishima off of him. He hated Izuku so much...was it that obvious. He was doing it subconsciously so he didn't know and so was not aware.

"It's nothin'. Leave it."

Kirishima removed his arm from Bakugou and sighed.

"_I'm gonna find out eventually."_ Kirishima thought. Uraraka and Iida discussed the trial and were very curious on what it would be like or how large the building would be. Hell - how realistic it would be as well! Izuku walked a little bit behind them, alone. He knew he was friendly with the two of them but that didn't mean he had to engage in their conversation all the time, he'd talk when he was needed.

As he walked, he took the time to observe his classmates; after all, it was important to take these kinds of things seriously as you never know who might be after you sooner or later. His pupils were a little darker than white, but if you weren't close enough, his enter eye would seem white. This was an advantage because then, people wouldn't know who he was specifically looking at. Now, while he couldn't see the details in everyone's face, their silhouettes said enough. Most of them were green, but the shades ranged. His outfit gave him several glances from his classmates. It was all white, like his hair and his skin and eyes. He wore rock hard, heavy white shin pads and chunky white sneakers that had metal soles equipped underneath. He wore a white t-shirt underneath an ivory army-like jacket.

Some might call him a cloud, or like a piece of paper. But like minded diplomatic people would call him something like 'angelic' and 'blinding'.

Even 'unbearable'.

"_I feel as though I'm being stared at."_ Izuku said with a smirk as he looked behind him, seeing a familiar silhouette - one belonging to a certain heterochromic boy. His gaze seems fiery and accusative. Izuku had never once spoken to him...his name was Todoroki Shouto, wasn't it? Right, he'd never spoken to Todoroki before. So why the scary glares?

The class had finally reached Ground Beta and were faced with a realistic, but slightly derelict looking building. All Might and Aizawa assured the students that it was safe and they went through the rules once more.

"Alright, the pairs are: Midoriya and Uraraka, the heroes, versus, Iida and Bakugou, the villains. Next are…" and Aizawa continued to read out the other groups. Izuku blinked twice at the sound of his name and Bakugou's in the same sentence. For the short time everyone had known each other, they had always known that Izuku and Bakugou had some bad blood with each other for whatever reason. To have Bakugou fighting with someone was already dangerous and unneeded, but to have him fight with some he hated? That was like adding gasoline to fire - a deadly situation would occur. At this, Bakugou's red eyes seemed bloodier than usual, his expression contorted into one much more gruesome and vile than usual. Kirishima made the mistake of worrying for Izuku, how would Izuku come out alive from this. It seemed as though Kaminari, Sero and even All Might worried for izuku and were surprised to hear that they'd be fighting. It was ironic to put Izuku on the hero side and Bakugou on the villains' side.

A little bit fitting. Everyone looked behind, expecting to see Izuku sweating buckets and being scared. They pitied him. Much to their surprise, Izuku was completely relaxed and had his hand in his pockets. He even had a weird kind of smile on his face, like he was satisfied or something. He resembled a poltergeist.

Bakugou cracked his knuckles and devilishly grinned as he uttered horrid words.

"Doesn't matter to me whether I'm a hero or villain this thing - I get to crush Deku, that's what matters here. Mr Aizawa! Let's go!"

Aizawa shook his head and said alright, telling the villains to go inside first and secure the payload. In there the air was hot, with Bakugou being there and all. Iida didn't find Bakugou to be much of a hero. He was always angry, ready to fight and arrogant too. Those components made a villain not a hero! But who was to judge him based on his personality? He also judged him on 'crushing' Izuku, whom he called Deku. The two of them said nothing as Bakugou leaned on the payload, ready to destroy his victim.

Suddenly, Bakugou grinned and heard footsteps. Iida shook his head at this.

"_Being heard by the villains...a rookie move, really."_ Iida thought.

Little did Iida know that Izuku did it on purpose.

"Alright, Uraraka. Bakugou wants to fight me. I know this better than anyone. He doesn't care about completing the mission he just wants to fight me. There's nothing else on his mind right now, so if you go and disrupt this thinking of his, he will hurt you." Izuku tilted his head and put a hand on her shoulder with a gentle smile. "So, quickly go and get the job done."

Uraraka blushed tremendously because of this. She shook her head to shake away her thoughts and with a determined look on her face, she nodded.

"Okay… please stay safe." Uraraka floated. "And don't underestimate Bakugou - he's nuts…!"

Izuku could hear Bakugou's explosions and his deafening footsteps getting closer and closer.

"He's nuts? Is that so…" Izuku said to himself, as he suddenly saw Bakugou appear in front of him, grunting and ready to fight.

"You thought you were fucing smart, huh, Deku? I have been looking for a way to beat your ass, but each time you found a way to slither out of it…" Bakugou got his explosions ready with a malicious look on his face. "Looks like the dear teachers just gave me an opportunity, though. I will fucking kill you!"

Izuku cocked his head to the side and smirked as he stepped back slowly, then he accelerated at a great speed. Doing this to Bakugou, infuriating him to the max... What is your goal?

It was like a cat and mouse chase. The two of them were incredibly quick. With Izuku wearing white, he looked like a lightning bolt. Just when Bakugou thought he had Izuku, he slipped right out of his hands just like that. Suddenly Izuku slowed down and Bakugou readied a right hook.

"I'll chase you anyday and anytime, you can't run forever! I'll get you, you bastard!" Bakugou said, swinging his right arm.

"Idiot."

It was a time-lag. Izuku Dodged the right hook with unbelievable ease and kneed Bakugou powerfully in the middle of his spine, making him let out a cry. Bakugou cursed and got up again, so Izuku swiftly got ready to attack again. This time, he jumped up twenty metres and put all his weight in his legs as he fell back down, assisted with his Gravity. He utterly crushed Bakugou's face. Before Bakugou could send any explosions, Izuku in a short moment of frenzy ripped off his gauntlets and threw them away. He then punched Bakugou's face up brutally and stomped on his chest before throwing him up in the air and kicking him down with force. Bakugou couldn;t feel his body but at the same time he could feel so much pain in his body that being burned alive would pale in comparison. His eyes were beginning to swelt and his gauntlets had been thrown off.

Little boy of yesterday, Izuku, overpowering the predator that was Bakugou. Overpowering was an understatement. Izuku was having his way with BAkugou like never before and it was disgustingly humiliating. He felt disgusting and scornfully frowned at Izuku.

Something eerie and unnatural was happening. Maybe it was Bakugou who couldn't see properly, for his eyes were becoming blurry. But...from what he could see, it looked like Izuku was...huh?

What's wrong with his face?

Izuku was grinning a grotesque kind of grin, and his eyes were getting wider and wider, and becoming absolutely white. It was completely mesmerising. As this happened, he began to grunt a little. Was he enjoying this? No way. No no no no no no..

"When... did you become so pathetic... why are you like this? You bastard. You're gross. Why are you..laughing?" Bakugou uttered quietly. His throat was crushed.

"I'm not laughing, I'm not, I promise!" Izuku muttered as he smiled sweetly with Bakugou staining him a new red. "You wanted this though, didn't you? You wanted to fight me, right? Ahh, Bakugou today really isn't your day. You thought you'd win, right? That you'd win?"

Izuku, you're forgetting yourself. Do not get carried away.

The white pearly fiend slowly raised his arm to punch Bakugou.

"You said you'd kill me right, well.."

Just as Izuku was going to punch Bakugou's face, he stopped about a centimetre away from his T-zone.

"_Iku."_

Izuku's mind stopped for a moment, like it was going to reboot. Robotically, Izuku's eyes travelled to nowhere and everywhere as he heard Miss Yashiko's voice saying his name.

Izuku leapt off of Bakugou and walked towards the exit of the building, no longer a cloud, but a rose stained ghost.

With a crude ghastly smile stuck to his face, Izuku saluted Bakugou with his index and middle finger with a bow.

"Heroes don't kill, Bakugou. I hope you remember this. 'Beating of your life' works but it sounds too rough." Izuku joyfully giggled, walking away. "It sounds like something you'd say, right?"

It was practically a massacre. Except there was only one person to be killed. But it felt like many people. What of that?

Heav'n adored.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter twelve - **_Sing a Song of Sickness!_

It was glass, at this here moment. A first class glass ready to break. Ready to break, born of air. Ay, the arrogance to think such glass would not break.

It was never together to begin with.

* * *

The building took the form of a grave as Izuku spoke and walked in the opposite direction. Bakugou could hardly recognise him - this wingless fiend. He stood so firmly to the ground as he spoke yet he seemed to fly away, or had he already flown out? His eyes beautifully contrasted the shadow of black that hovered over his eyes, almost glowing in a sense. A little ominously, darkly in a way that Bakugou could not understand. But perhaps the reason for his puzzled expression was because of the way he got beat up. There was so much to register. When did Deku, pipsqueak boy of yesterday, become so strong? And why did the Light in his eyes change so? Bakugou was so puzzled that he dared to think that maybe he was hallucinating.

Maybe it was that Izuku's eyes hadn't become brighter in nature but that the background became moonless.

Izuku meaninglessly bowed to Bakugou, as though they had fought fairly - which they hardly did, I daresay - and walked away.

"Wa...it..I- fuck.." Bakugou coughed out some blood and weakly raised his arm and looked at the once fleshy, muscular leg turn a new red. To go with such a disgraceful colour, he could feel the envious purple grabbing at his back, the bruises spread fast.

"I sai..d wait..! You thi-..think I'm done with you..?!" Bakugou screeched in agony. Izuku was already out the door and left the grave to really live up to its name and become the cold, silent place it was bred to be. This seemed to be the case, but one could almost hear Izuku whispering 'But I'm done with you'. How could you call this a cat and mouse chase when the cat had been bitten and played with by the mouse?

Upstairs, Uraraka and Iida exchanged glances of worried emotion as they heard the clutter and clatter going on downstairs, but their fear and worry really sunk in when they heard it go silent. It is always better to hear noise for once you hear nothing, that is when your peril-fear is called for.

"What is going on down there?" Uraraka said biting her bottom lip to stop the quivering somehow. "In fact, which of them is hurt?"

Iida looked down to his feet and clenched his fists.

"You heard it, didn't you? That was clearly Bakugou's voice...we underestimated Midoriya. It's...shameful."

Uraraka was indeed happy to hear that Izuku wasn't the one bearing the injuries but it was too shocking to just take in.

"I wonder." she said, running down the steps to check out the scene. Thus, leaving Iida alone once again. Why, 'again', you ask? It is simple really!

From the day Izuku saved Uraraka from the 0-pointer, Uraraka had grown a bigger heart, and her eyes became odd and heart shaped, not to mention her pulsating red cheeks and her fluttering eye lashes...all of which happened whenever she thought of Izuku or looked his way. She became infatuated with him. It was almost like a viral infection was coursing through her veins. A new virus bred each and every time they laid eyes on each other, a new wound from Cupid's arrow - a new broken heart's fragments, scattered near her, but she knew not of its origins. Iida would speak to her, but it was like he spoke to himself. What of it? Well he might as well have been - she would nod and blush a little every time, with a careless 'Huh? Y-Yeah..' if he was lucky. Iida would see her sigh and tilt her head as she trained in the gym sometimes.

"_If such a sigh were to be blown for my sake, from your lips.."_ is what he would think - but he'd quickly resume to the constant series of reality and slap himself on the wrist for his arrogance. But his arrogance was caused by his loneliness, which was caused by her neglect.

And the neglect? Caused by Izuku's bewitchment.

"What is that supposed to mean? Look at me for once.." he uttered before following her.

When they got downstairs, their mouth's had to be covered like a vent, for they opened wide like church doors. Dazed beyond the horizon of words and almost blinded, they saw a beat up, grotesque red-purple being that took the form of Bakugou. What had Bakugou done to end up like this. Hell, what had _Izuku_ done to cause Bakugou to look like this? This was surely uncalled for.

Uraraka immediately ran towards her fellow classmate who could barely move to aid him.

"Bakugou! How did this happen, didn't you try to fight back?!" Uraraka said poking Bakugou.

"D-Don't poke...me and don't..you d-dare l-laugh..bastard..s.." he squeaked out as he put on a frown.

"So you're just as fiery when you down for the count, huh, Bakugou." Iida said without thinking as he looked down at him. Perhaps this was karma for trying to hurt Izuku, his friend. However, one thing needed to be addressed.

If Iida and Izuku were friends then why was Iida feeling some form of joy? A joy that Uraraka would see that Izuku didn't deserve her love, that Izuku wasn't some foreign deity that needed her love.

Ay, he wasn't Eros nor was he a king, nor was he a prince or a hero and he wasn't an angel. Perhaps this was his chance! A chance was surfacing from Izuku's defacing. Was this really the mindset a hero should have? Residing off of another man's misfortune? Well no matter, he'd thrown away his real pride long ago. Iida watched Uraraka try and stop the bleeding.

She was panicking at the sight of blood and almost made herself float and gathered her thoughts.

"_Ugh..uhmm...gosh how did he get like this? Midoriya, why would you do such a thing? What do I need, what do I need...Ah, right! Teachers!" _She snapped her fingers with a grin and shouted to the top of her lungs as she put pressure on Bakugou's wound.

"Mr Aizawa! All Might! Heeelp!" she screamed, shutting her eyes tight. Even though the teachers would come to the scene regardless, she just had to shout. She was so clueless like this, what would the heroes do?

And just like that, the hero's arrived! They got past the door and like the rest of the class, they were dazed in a fit of surprise and concern. Their Number One was currently on the floor not moving - was he even alive?

Bakugou's eyes scanned the place. He saw the ordinary familiar faces contorted in sadness and guilt. He saw Kirishima, Kaminari and Sero about to run towards him to help, he saw the teachers shouting to try and keep him awake and lastly he saw the bloody fiend himself, standing out from the crowd; he saw Izuku was there as well.

"_You have some nerve showing your face here, you fucking lightbulb." _Bakugou thought.

A new, burning, gross rage had overtaken Bakugou's body. Adrenaline swam through his body, giving him new found strength as he readied explosions in his hands and leapt at Izuku, whom was going to dodge but let Bakugou hit him with a powerful explosion.

"So, it's going to be like that." Izuku said in a breath as he clasped his hands and shut his eyes as if to pray.

"Howitzer Impact!"

Joyful all ye nations rise, join the triumph of the skies.

* * *

Perhaps a few hours had passed since Izuku had been struck - who knows? He lay feeble in the Recovery Girl's office looking around and wondered to himself why on earth he'd let himself be hit by such a loud, brass bug? He could have easily dodged and knocked him out cold in the same blow. So why? Well, kicking a man while he's down isn't hero-like is it? Perhaps that was why, after all, he had to preserve a certain reputation.

Izuku would think this like anyone else, but he felt as though he was condemned to get hit for some reason. Like he had to.

Suddenly, Recovery Girl walked into the room with her reassuring sweet smile but she didn't come alone. A familiarly unfamiliar silhouette walked into the room by her side. Both seemed to bear peaceful auras and goodwill, but the tall man beside her felt to be unsettinglingly tranquil, like he was completely one with peace or one with the air. Had Izuku not seen his silhouette, he would not have known another human walked into the room.

He began to feel nauseous and the man held an even greater brightness.

Recovery Girl walked near Izuku, ready to cure him of his sickness.

"Now, now - we can't have that. Sickness isn't allowed!" she said. Before she could do anything, the man spoke jovially.

"Ah, Miss, please do not trouble yourself." He said smoothly holding his hand out. "You needn't worry - please, let me take care of him. I have a passion for life."

Recovery Girl narrowed her eyes and hummed, Izuku prayed to whatever there was to pray to that this old lady would get her senses back and stay with him. Unfortunately, Izuku's prayers did not prevail.

"If you insist, I do have to go and look after Bakugou anyway." she said walking out of the room. The accursed sound resonated through the air - the sound of the clicking door. A door was all it was but it felt to hold much more weight and force and so much more power than it did. Izuku felt trapped.

"_Where have I seen such a bright light, where oh where.." _Izuku cursed to think, for he thought he would vomit any second that moment. The doctor walked even closer to Izuku now and he became painfully bright, at the same time Izuku regained his memories of where he saw this same white, bright star.

Izuku could no longer see any other silhouette's; only the doctor's light shone now and it greedily burned over and took over Izuku's vision.

"But I do have a passion for life, the living that is. All things come from him. You too, are special." The doctor dictated calmly, almost soothingly. But his tone took a minute turn for the worst. "Your eyes have been masked for the short while that is now, I'm unseen to you. Soon, you will see the light."

After the last syllable of the last word had rolled off the doctor's tongue, Izuku found himself too sick to move and that he was paralysed to the bed with a heavy wave of fear.

"_Of which light does this Sirius, Alpha Canis Majoris, speak of that is not already in front of me?" _Izuku thought with a shot of terror. Strangely, the doctor removed his coat and placed it over Izuku's body. After that point?

Izuku hadn't the foggiest idea of what happened.

After trekking through the mud, dirt and grass, the insignificant ants looked up...and saw the boot.

**Hello and thank you for reading. I trust you are all okay? Remember to stay safe and stay indoors. **

**みんな聞いて****。****:v**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter thirteen - **_Sole, and His Death._

Sleepily awoke and lively death, in a dark room was where he found himself to be - he just couldn't see. To say he couldn't distinguish one from two - was it too bright or too dark? What is the difference?

* * *

In a dream like state, Izuku saw that he was no longer in the Infirmary but he was now in some kind of dark room? No, more like a pit of blackness - there was no colour, no silhouette; there was nothing to be seen nor found. At this, Izuku began to question if he had perhaps died or if he was even sitting on anything. Realising the conundrum, he laughed and shook his head! Wow - mankind find themselves alone in a dark place with no noise or disturbance and they suddenly believe they're dead or something ill! Weak creatures some might say.

Izuku calmed down to collect his thoughts and found that he could not speak, nor could he think. What of that? When he tried to think, it was like he was forced not to, nothing came to mind and he couldn't use his head, but he could see? What of that? It was as if Izuku's soul or mind or whatever non-physical thing of him were just in a vessel called his body, I mean, he couldn't even think for himself! Now this did indeed frighten him.

In your own temple, and you can't even think.

But then out of the blue, a strong light flashes before his eyes. A light that scorched his cornea's and got brighter and whiter and even purer the longer it lingered, but a second later an even greater pain would greet him. An excruciating pain, a nonsensical type of suffering afflicted every bone and muscle in his back. At a time like this, Izuku would gesture thanks to whatever caused him not to think and not to speak, for those two things seemed useless, redundant to him now. This was because the very place on his body called his back flared and throbbed and was up in throes so much so that it pained him to whisper or think of breathing - even breathing was an ordeal. It was a pain worse than Death, who sounded like an Archangel in the ears of someone in great anguish.

Izuku then knew he was never actually on the ground because he fell down on his torturous back. It all happened so fast, yet so quickly. It was a rugged, sloppy process yet it was swift and smooth. He fell and his throat let out a wicked, skin-itching screech that almost seemed primitive because of how utterly wild and untamed it was. This was the cry of a man that had nothing to begin with, yet he made something out of nothing. This something? 'Twas woe and dread in its purest form. Izuku's hands clawed like an eagle or like a beast from a tale, his eye-sockets could not evolve or expand quick enough to hold the sheer weight of his now vast eyes, his back contorted into an unnatural bridge-like shape that seemed spine-breaking.

Was this divine judgement?

In the midst of all of this defilement, the light grew brighter and he heard a voice and saw a gruesome, black slimy looking glob of an entity. It stood like a tree stump but immediately grew far beyond the height of the largest man there ever was as it spoke with pride:

"Behold, it is he who will give the people second birth! Upon the wings of the unbegotten bastard of the Drunken Craftsman, borned in Krankenhaus - he it is! Rejoice and bring hither the wings of rock and fire!"

To add to Izuku's state of confusion, a horror filled ringing sound echoed deeply in sync with what the molten being was saying. The frequency of this sound was off the scales and penetrated his eardrums and melted, twisted, and pinched at his brain. Body, soul, spirit and feeling...snatched from him in a single spell. He had his vision taken, his back ached like nothing before, an unearthly being declared something, he couldn't think at all.

"This was his spark. A break of his limitations."

Izuku's eyes mechanically unlatched like he was a doll and with those eyes he saw someone was hovering over him. His mind was in such an unsightly state that he didn't bother to see who it was so he impulsively gripped this person's weak, short shoulders. He heard a crack and that was when he realised he had dislocated Recovery Girl's shoulders. Like he had been enlightened, he blinked and released his grip.

"Recovery Girl, I am so sorry..I didn't know it was you..Gosh, look what I've done now." Izuku said regretfully. Strangely, Recovery Girl popped both shoulders into place and whined a little before calling Nezu and Aizawa.

"Don't sweat it, I've felt worse pain in my day, Izuku dear." she said before approaching the door.

Izuku understood this, but his mind was trying to process the tribulation that he had been through back in that nightmare of his...and that man...that man!

"Where is he?"

Recovery stopped in her tracks and she was taken aback at such a blatant yet odd question.

"Who? Where is who?"

Now both of them were puzzled. Izuku sank into his bed and rubbed his temples.

"Dear, I think you are still feeling a little under the weather from what happened. I was the only one here looking after you.."

Izuku was silent.

"Anyways, you are staying here for the rest of the day until I think you are ready to leave." she finally said before leaving.

In the classroom, Aizawa asked that everyone stay calm and quiet as he was going to explain something to them.

"Everyone, I know that you are all worried for Midoriya and you are all wondering why Bakugou recovered faster and is here when Midoriya isn't. Well there was something we need to tell you about him, it's nothing serious, really."

At this, everyone was intrigued. Uraraka leaned in and narrowed her eyes in a serious manner and Iida glanced at her.

"_So, you get her attention even though you're not even here. O wonder how you do it, Midoriya." _Iida thought half-seriously. Bakugou clicked his tongue and bore a nasty scowl - he already knew what Aizawa was going to say.

People like Todoroki, Tokoyami and Shoji all stayed expressionless but it would be a lie to say they weren't interested.

"Midoriya is blind - he can't see any of you. Nothing." Aizawa said deadpan as he scratched his head.

The class managed to fall even more quiet than silence itself and they all paused for about five seconds. Uraraka tilted her head in confusion, Yaoyorozu and Iida's eyes grew tenfold and the rest of the class was either in disbelief or still trying to understand what their teacher was saying.

All except for the blonde bastard. He yawned and Kaminari laughed.

"Mr. Aizawa, this is a joke isn't it? Didn't you see the way Bakugou got his ass handed to him? He even came first in the entrance exams, c'mon now. My bet is that he is either blind or quirkled, no way can you have both surely. You know that's impossible - for him to be blind - you at least know that much right?"

Sero smacked his friend on the head and bowed in his place. Aizawa was triggered and frowned.

"Are you trying to get expelled, Kaminari? And this goes for you all," Aizawa said solemnly. "Izuku is blind, he can't see and will never see again. He is also quirkless, which I'm sure you all know. He has never seen any of your faces before, nor has he seen me. Please understand that despite being blind and quirkless, he is extremely strong and has heightened senses. Do not underestimate him. Now, back to work."

There was a quiet rush of sound circulating around Izuku being blind and quirkless yet had bountiful strength. People couldn't believe it and some of them dared to say it was kind of creepy.

Bakugou angrily did his work to stop thinking of how he wanted to kill Izuku one day himself really be on top. On top of him, on top of the class and on top of all heroes.

"_It's no big deal, it fuckin' nothing. Dunno why the whole damn class is acting like he's someone special. It's nothing, he's nothing..calm down.." _Bakugou thought trying to calm down, though he was basically in a rage. How would he like to kill Izuku, he thought of this. He'd strangle him, snap his neck with a click and watch the blood lick from all holes visible, he'd watch him turn purple black and blue before that and watch his eyes splurge from the skull before he exploded his-

"Ah, my pen broke."

* * *

Aizawa rushed to the infirmary where he saw Nezu waiting outside the door with his arms folded. They both nodded and walked into the room where they found Izuku with a plain, still face. It wasn't as if he were a zombie or an emotionless rag, but more of an untouched, unwavering sheet of paper. Izuku's head didn't move but his eyes did as he saw his teacher walk into the room and sit by him.

"Midoriya, you alrigh-"

"I believe you came to ask me some questions, please cut to the chase." Izuku said with a jolly smile and but dull expression.

Nezu and Aizawa looked at each other before speaking. The latter spoke first.

"When you awoke, the first question you asked was 'where is he?', who were you referring to?"

"Well, I was talking about the man that came into the room with Recovery Girl.." Izuku explained in enough detail what happened when it was just him, Recovery Girl and this odd Doctor. He explained what the doctor's silhouette looked like, both teachers knew about Izuku's 'blind visuals' but kept that information confidential from the students until Izuku permitted them to know, Izuku told them what the doctor looked like and normal things like that. Izuku emphasised on the way the doctor spoke and his mannerisms - how absolutely tranquil he was as well. When Izuku explained this part of the man, it sent sensations through the bodies of both Nezu and Aizawa. This was what Izuku found to be most scary about him, for he had never in his life known a living being to be so calm, for even the leaves that held tight to the trees, for even the foam of the sea, for even the wind itself knew some kind of uneasiness.

But this doctor? His heart was till and unwavering, untouched and untainted. So pure, it was poison.

Once Izuku had told them all they wanted to know they bid Izuku farewell and let him rest. They told Izuku they'd research this man and get back to Izuku very soon.

A few days had passed since Bakugou and Izuku's fights and since Izuku's nightmare and all was looking well. Friendships were getting stronger by the passing minute, Izuku's combat skills were improving with Stain and Nezu and Aizawa had gotten more information on the odd Doctor.

"Looks like we have narrowed it down to a few people." Aizawa told Nezu and All Might.

"Yup, thanks to Naomasa's detective skills." All Might said with a nod. "But we need one person, not all these people as suspects. How will we.."

Nezu looked quickly between his computer screen and his notes as he sipped on his tea. As he was scanning both places, he abruptly dropped and shattered his cup as his small black eyes grew in horror. Aizawa and All Might were astonished and quickly asked Nezu what the issue was.

Nezu slowly turned his head like a creaking door as he told them the dreaded truth.

"This person that has been tormenting Izuku.. It's the Craftsman."

Aizawa looked at Nezu as if he had sprouted two and dryly chuckled with an unmoving expression.

"You're fucking with me."

All Might hesitated to respond for he knew not of what to say to something like this.

"Nezu, my friend, the Craftsman has been dead for centuries. That is impossible. You're a genius, y-you would know." All Might said in a shiver. Izuku of all people to the Craftsman? Was the world going mad?

* * *

The person that Izuku saw was known as the Craftsman and was infamous for having strange, unthinkable ideas of creating 'heaven on earth'. His real name was already known to the public but somehow when they heard of his name, a day later they would forget. Many described him as outrageously calm and awfully normal, but that made no sense so people simply dismissed him as mad and he later died of natural causes. Though he did have theories on having this idea become a reality. The Craftsman said that in order for everyone to be at peace with eternal life, a sacrifice must be made and that sacrifice must be equipped with the Eyes of Elohim, or Eyes of God as well as having 'wings of stone and fire'. Nobody knew what this meant and so they forgot this part but little did they know it was the key.

Abed the seven worlds is where he lies.


	14. Disturbance

**An Inconvenience...T_T**

Hello! I hope you're all safe during this time~ It's been a while right? Sorry for no update for like, what, 1-2 weeks? Well, I have had some issues in real life that have been preventing me from writing. As you know, not writing for a while will make you lose track of your story line and there might be inconsistencies. Now, if I was a great heroic person that perseveres through everything, I'd be like: _"No, I gotta keep doing this story...for the people reading! I can't just end it here, that isn't right! Despite it not being the best of my work, I gotta keep goin'!" _Buuut since I am in fact kinda stubborn and want it to be perfect, I will either do it and make it good knowing it will indeed be good, or I will not do it at all like an idiot ∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿ Believe me, I have been dwelling on this for SO LONG! It wasn't an easy choice at all. It was like this dark aura of guilt has scooped me up! It was such a bad feeling but I had to do something about it. I had to tell those readers out there that I just couldn't do it anymore because the story would become faulty. That's, of course, not to say I will definitely never look at this FF again, but that is the most likely scenario. As I'm writing this to you all reading this, I feel like a weight has been lifted from my chest. I feel kinda free but I feel bad for those that were waiting for a chapter. This is becoming long, right? It's nice telling you the truth and all...In fact, I actually got into writing because of two things: how I love expressing emotions through metaphors and other techniques and because I love character design. Original characters...Gah I love them… When somebody drew Tragedy (from Mother Chaos) for me it was a beautiful feeling so I appreciate anyone who draws any characters of mine - even my version of Deku! Altering and tweaking Izuku's design-

Now I was about to ramble on about character design and how much I love changes and such...I had to stop myself because nobody would wanna read something so long and tedious ;;;

To what I wanted to originally say, I just had to tell you guys that When the Fish Fly was going to be shorter than Mother Chaos with new ideas but I could not continue the story. All the reviews and follows meant so much to me. It was like fuel to a car, it helped me have the drive to move along with the story! I am sorry for any misunderstandings or inconveniences;;.

I am NOT going to quit writing though! Short stories still exist and I might think about doing those!

If you have any questions feel free to ask away~Maybe I might return to it, maybe I won't! Who knows! Writing should never be a forced thing to do - you have to flow with it and the outcome will be spectacular! ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

**-Takahiro.**


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